---
title: clsStringUtilities
summary: API reference for clsStringUtilities.
status: draft
owner: SAIF Documentation Team
last_reviewed: 2026-08-17
library: SAIF.Presentation.Web.Core.Infragistics103
reference_type: package
---

# clsStringUtilities

`clsStringUtilities` is a stateless, `Shared`-only helper class that cleans text for downstream systems intolerant of unprintable or non-ASCII characters — most notably Crystal Reports and outbound email — by replacing known Word-pasted special characters and stripping/escaping characters outside a safe printable range.

## Purpose
- Replace unprintable or Word-specific special characters (smart quotes, tabs, bullet characters) with plain-ASCII equivalents or spaces so downstream systems such as Crystal Reports do not error on the content (`CleanString`).
- Prepare a string for safe inclusion in an email by escaping characters that interfere with mail parsing (quotes, `#`, `&`, `?`) and URL-encoding line breaks/tabs (`CleanForEmail`).

## Context
- Namespace: `SAIF.Presentation.Web.Core.Utilities`
- Assembly/package: `SAIF.Presentation.Web.Core.Infragistics103` (merged into `SAIF.BOF.Presentation.Web.Infragistics103` NuGet package)

## Public members
| Member | Signature | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CleanString | `Shared Function CleanString(inText As String) As String` | Replaces known Word-pasted characters (tab, smart apostrophe/quotes, round/square bullets) with plain equivalents, then replaces any remaining character outside the printable ASCII range (32–126, plus CR/LF) with a space, to prevent errors in systems like Crystal Reports that are intolerant of unprintable input. |
| CleanForEmail | `Shared Function CleanForEmail(intext As String) As String` | Replaces double quotes with single quotes, removes `#` and `?`, replaces `&` with `"and"`, and URL-encodes carriage-return/line-feed and tab characters, to make a string safe for inclusion in an outbound email; returns the input unchanged (including `Nothing`) if `intext` is `Nothing`. |

## Behavioral notes
- `CleanString` builds its result with a `Text.StringBuilder` for performance on potentially long input text*.
- `CleanForEmail` depends on `HttpContext.Current.Server` being available to URL-encode line breaks and tabs, so it is only usable within an active web request context.

## Constraints and usage notes
- All members are `Shared`; this class holds no instance state.
- `CleanForEmail` returns `intext` unmodified (rather than an empty string) when passed `Nothing`.

> **Note:** Statements marked with * were inferred from code structure, naming conventions, or
> contextual evidence where direct confirmation was not available in source artifacts. Statements
> marked with ** could not be confirmed; treat as unknown until verified.

## Sources
- SAIF.Presentation.Web.Core.Infragistics103\clsStringUtilities.vb