From: dennis@starlifter.reichel.net > I'm using Lope's color code, and I need to know how to get the length of a > string without counting spaces for the color designators ( {R ). > > for instance: "Thybalt the {WImmortal of {BLaw{x" > > strlen returns 33, but I need it to ignore the color stuff and return 27. > Help, please? This function should do the trick. /* * This is a modified version of a function written by Wreck. * Original at http://http://dark.nrg.dtu.dk/~wreck/mud/code/color.txt * * With the modifications, it should be compatible with the newest * version of Lope's colour code. * * Note: I haven't tested this. It may not work perfectly. * Dennis Reed */ int strlen_color( char *argument ) { char *str; int length; if ( argument==NULL || argument[0]=='\0' ) return 0; length=0; str=argument; while ( *str != '\0' ) { if ( *str != '{' ) { str++; length++; continue; } if (*(++str) == '{') length++; str++; } return length; } If this doesn't work completely, it shouldn't take too much work to get it to do so. Hope this helps. Dennis