$AlphNum

The $AlphNum function verifies whether a string is composed only of characters that are valid in the specified (or default) language, and digits 0 through 9.

Syntax

%result = $AlphNum(string[,language])

%result	A numeric variable that contains: 1, for a true condition. 0, for a false condition if one of these occurs: string contains spaces or punctuation marks string is null
string	The string to be verified. string must be one of the following: A literal enclosed in quotation marks A %variable A field name that is not enclosed in quotation marks. In this case, the function call must be embedded in a FOR EACH RECORD loop where the current value of the field is verified.
language	An optional string that specifies the language to use. language is handled as follows: You can enter a literal enclosed in quotation marks or a %variable containing a valid language name. If the value you enter is not a supported language, the request is canceled with an error message. See the LANGUSER parameter for the valid values. If you omit the language argument, Model 204 performs the validation in U.S. English, even if the value of the LANGUSER parameter is not US, and lowercase characters are not recognized. An asterisk enclosed in quotation marks ('*') instructs Model 204 to use the value of the LANGUSER parameter.

Examples

The following example illustrates the string and language arguments as literals enclosed in quotation marks:

Function code...	Returns...
$alphnum ('JOHN','US')	1
$alphnum ('MÂCON','FRENCHC')	1
$alphnum ('MÂCON','US')	0
$alphnum ('JOHN SMITH','US')	0
$alphnum ('ÎLE D'ORLÉANS','FRENCHC')	0
$alphnum ('12A','US')	1
$alphnum ('12A','FRENCHC')	1

In the following example, the request sorts by name and processes records whose designated field value does not meet the $AlphNum criteria. The second argument in the $AlphNum call instructs Model 204 to use French Canadian to perform the validation:

BEGIN %SEARCH = $READ('ENTER FIELD NAME') FIND.RECS: FIND ALL RECORDS FOR WHICH RECTYPE = POLICYHOLDER END FIND PLACE RECORDS IN FIND.RECS ON LIST BAD FOR EACH RECORD IN FIND.RECS IF $alphnum(%%SEARCH,'FRENCHC') THEN REMOVE RECORD FROM LIST BAD END IF END FOR SORT.RECS: SORT RECORDS ON LIST BAD BY FULLNAME FOR EACH RECORD IN SORT.RECS . . . END

Note: For upward compatibility reasons, $Alpha and $AlphNum do not recognize lowercase English letters as alphabetic characters unless a non-null language parameter is specified.