Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!bbn.com!mesard
From: mesard@bbn.com (Wayne Mesard)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Subject: Re: script files
Summary: M-x query-replace-regexp [^@-^H^K^M-^_]+  <null>
Message-ID: <36466@bbn.COM>
Date: 27 Feb 89 15:03:23 GMT
References: <517@cwjcc.CWRU.Edu>
Sender: news@bbn.COM
Reply-To: mesard@BBN.COM (Wayne Mesard)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Lines: 32

In article <517@cwjcc.CWRU.Edu> yehuda@victoria.UUCP (Yechiel Yehuda) writes:
>	Is there any way to *quickly* clean a file of control characters
>  in Emacs?

Well how *quickly* can you type the following (when you're at the top of
the buffer):

  =>    <Escape> x query-replace-regexp <Return>
                  This runs the Query Replace Regexp command.
  =>    [<Ctrl-Q><Ctrl-@>-<Ctrl-Q><Ctrl-H><Ctrl-Q><Ctrl-K>
         <Ctrl-Q><Ctrl-M>-<Ctrl-Q><Ctrl-_>]+<Return>
                  This results in: "[^@-^H^K^M-^_]+" and is a regular expression
                  describing a string of one or more control chars (excluding
                  Tabs, Linefeeds and page breaks).
  =>   <Return>
                  Enters an empty replacement string.
  =>   !
                  Tells Emacs to do all the replacements it can without
                  asking you to confirm them.

[It's not as difficult as my verbose description makes it sound.  It can
be done in two dozen keystrokes, actually.]
 
The above assumes you're using GNU Emacs, although you didn't say:-(

Disclaimer: For the next two weeks people will be sending you elisp code
            to do what you've asked.  Don't worry, they mean well :-)

-- 
unsigned *Wayne_Mesard();
MESARD@BBN.COM
BBN, Cambridge, MA