What is the best way to delete spaces between span elements while preserving the spaces within each individual span tag?

Question

What is the best way to delete spaces between span elements while preserving the spaces within each individual span tag?

Is there a way to eliminate unexpected spaces that appear between spans?

One attempt was made by setting font-size: 0 within the wrapper <div>, which successfully removed spaces not only between <span> tags but also within each <span> tag.

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

Seeking guidance on how to remove spaces between span tags while preserving spaces within each span tag.

The content within the span tags is subject to change dynamically.

html css vue.js vuejs2

Answer 1

Answer №1

Explanation behind the behavior:

Typically, web browsers condense all blank spaces (such as new lines) into a single "space" character. This concept is outlined in detail in the MDN CSS documentation regarding white-space:

white-space: normal;
Blocks of white space are merged together. Line breaks from the source code are treated as regular spaces. Lines break to fit within their designated boxes.

An interesting read on this topic can be found in the article titled "When does white space matter in HTML?" which offers an in-depth explanation.

Possible Solution:

To preserve the white space within your <span>, you can instruct the browser with the following CSS:

.my-span {
  white-space: pre;
}

Addition:

If you find it necessary to still eliminate white spaces between spans, considering using the float property might be useful instead of adjusting the font-size.

.with-float span {
  float: left;
  white-space: pre;
}

<div class="with-float">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

Answer 2

Explanation behind the behavior:

Typically, web browsers condense all blank spaces (such as new lines) into a single "space" character. This concept is outlined in detail in the MDN CSS documentation regarding white-space:

white-space: normal;
Blocks of white space are merged together. Line breaks from the source code are treated as regular spaces. Lines break to fit within their designated boxes.

An interesting read on this topic can be found in the article titled "When does white space matter in HTML?" which offers an in-depth explanation.

Possible Solution:

To preserve the white space within your <span>, you can instruct the browser with the following CSS:

.my-span {
  white-space: pre;
}

Addition:

If you find it necessary to still eliminate white spaces between spans, considering using the float property might be useful instead of adjusting the font-size.

.with-float span {
  float: left;
  white-space: pre;
}

<div class="with-float">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

Answer 3

Answer №2

Hello there! Your code is absolutely correct and it works perfectly fine, except for one specific scenario where it may not work as expected.

<span>ch</span>
<span> Results.</span>

The issue lies in the fact that the white space at the beginning and end of the tag gets trimmed by the browser automatically. This can be seen in the example below.

A simple solution: Just replace any leading or trailing spaces with $nbsp and your CSS should work exactly how you want it to :)

In your particular case, since the space is at the beginning, you can try this:

<span>ch</span>
<span>&nbsp Results.</span>

Feel free to take a look at the sample below where both the issues and solutions are demonstrated:

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
  <span>&nbsp Results2. Text with middle space</span>
   
</div>

Answer 4

Hello there! Your code is absolutely correct and it works perfectly fine, except for one specific scenario where it may not work as expected.

<span>ch</span>
<span> Results.</span>

The issue lies in the fact that the white space at the beginning and end of the tag gets trimmed by the browser automatically. This can be seen in the example below.

A simple solution: Just replace any leading or trailing spaces with $nbsp and your CSS should work exactly how you want it to :)

In your particular case, since the space is at the beginning, you can try this:

<span>ch</span>
<span>&nbsp Results.</span>

Feel free to take a look at the sample below where both the issues and solutions are demonstrated:

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
  <span>&nbsp Results2. Text with middle space</span>
   
</div>

Answer 5

Answer №3

If you are open to using JavaScript, one way to achieve this is by identifying and removing all text nodes that consist of only whitespace from the DOM. Here's a sample implementation:

function removeEmptyNodes(node) {
  var result = [];
  for (node = node.firstChild; node; node = node.nextSibling) {
    if (node.nodeType === 3) {
      if (node.textContent.trim().length === 0)
        result.push(node);
    } else {
      result = result.concat(removeEmptyNodes(node));
    }
  }
  return result;
}

// Locate the <body> tag or specify a target like a specific div
var body = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];

// Process contents within the body
var emptyNodes = removeEmptyNodes(body);
for (var i = 0; i < emptyNodes.length; i++)
  emptyNodes[i].parentNode.removeChild(emptyNodes[i]);

<div>
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div>
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is</span>
  <span>not</span>
  <span> Henry.</span>
</div>

<div>
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

Answer 6

If you are open to using JavaScript, one way to achieve this is by identifying and removing all text nodes that consist of only whitespace from the DOM. Here's a sample implementation:

function removeEmptyNodes(node) {
  var result = [];
  for (node = node.firstChild; node; node = node.nextSibling) {
    if (node.nodeType === 3) {
      if (node.textContent.trim().length === 0)
        result.push(node);
    } else {
      result = result.concat(removeEmptyNodes(node));
    }
  }
  return result;
}

// Locate the <body> tag or specify a target like a specific div
var body = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];

// Process contents within the body
var emptyNodes = removeEmptyNodes(body);
for (var i = 0; i < emptyNodes.length; i++)
  emptyNodes[i].parentNode.removeChild(emptyNodes[i]);

<div>
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div>
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is</span>
  <span>not</span>
  <span> Henry.</span>
</div>

<div>
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

Answer 7

Answer №4

It may not be the most efficient solution, but one approach is to apply a CSS style of display: flex to a container with the class "letter-space", and then replace all spaces within the strings you place in the span with a hidden character (shown in brackets) [ ‏‏‎ ]. This method worked for me.

Answer 8

It may not be the most efficient solution, but one approach is to apply a CSS style of display: flex to a container with the class "letter-space", and then replace all spaces within the strings you place in the span with a hidden character (shown in brackets) [ ‏‏‎ ]. This method worked for me.

Answer 9

Answer №5

It appears that your spans have line breaks separating them. To fix this, try placing them next to each other on the same line without any white space in between. If not, it is expected behavior for inline spans to have spaces between them.

Answer 10

It appears that your spans have line breaks separating them. To fix this, try placing them next to each other on the same line without any white space in between. If not, it is expected behavior for inline spans to have spaces between them.

Answer 11

Answer №6

After noticing the presence of leading and trailing spaces, removing them should resolve the issue. This is because spaces between spans are automatically included when there is white space present between them.

Answer 12

After noticing the presence of leading and trailing spaces, removing them should resolve the issue. This is because spaces between spans are automatically included when there is white space present between them.

Answer 13

Answer №7

Modify the white-space algorithm

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
  white-space:pre;
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

Alternatively, try a clever trick using inline-block and pseudo elements. This method can effectively collapse consecutive spaces inside spans:

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
  display:inline-block;
}
.tried-with-font span:before,
.tried-with-font span:after {
  content:"\200B";
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span>    Results.</span>
</div>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>My name   </span>
  <span>is    </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

Answer 14

Modify the white-space algorithm

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
  white-space:pre;
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

Alternatively, try a clever trick using inline-block and pseudo elements. This method can effectively collapse consecutive spaces inside spans:

.word-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: gray;
}
.letter-space {
  color: white;
  background-color: red;
}

.tried-with-font {
  font-size: 0;
}
.tried-with-font span {
  font-size: 18px;
  display:inline-block;
}
.tried-with-font span:before,
.tried-with-font span:after {
  content:"\200B";
}

<div class="word-space">
  <span>My name </span>
  <span>is </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

<div class="letter-space">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span> Results.</span>
</div>

<h3>The result I tried:</h3>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>Sear</span>
  <span>ch</span>
  <span>    Results.</span>
</div>

<div class="tried-with-font">
  <span>My name   </span>
  <span>is    </span>
  <span>Antonio.</span>
</div>

What is the best way to delete spaces between span elements while preserving the spaces within each individual span tag?

Answer №1

Explanation behind the behavior:

Possible Solution:

Addition:

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

Answer №7

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