$Alpha: Difference between revisions
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<p> | <p> | ||
The <var>$Alpha</var> function verifies whether a string is composed only of characters | The <var>$Alpha</var> function verifies whether a string is composed only of characters that are valid in the specified (or default) language. | ||
</p> | |||
==Syntax== | |||
<p class="syntax"><span class="term">%result</span> = $Alpha(<span class="term">string</span> [,<span class="term">language</span>]) </p> | |||
<table> | |||
<tr><th>%result</th> | |||
<td>A numeric variable that contains: | |||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li>1 | <li>1, for a true condition.</li> | ||
<li>0 | <li>0, for a false condition if one of these occurs: | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li> | <li><var class="term">string</var> contains digits, spaces, or punctuation marks</li> | ||
<li> | <li><var class="term">string</var> is null</li> | ||
<li>U.S. English characters in the string have accent marks | <li>U.S. English characters in the string have accent marks</li> | ||
</ul> | </ul></li> | ||
</li> | </ul></td></tr> | ||
</ul></ | |||
<tr><th>string</th> | |||
< | <td>The string to be verified. <var class="term">string</var> must be one of the following: | ||
< | |||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li>A literal enclosed in quotation marks</li> | <li>A literal enclosed in quotation marks</li> | ||
<li>A [[ | <li>A [[Using variables and values in_computation|%variable]]</li> | ||
<li>A field name without quotation marks. In this case, the function call must be embedded in a <var>FOR EACH RECORD</var> loop where the current value of the field is verified.</li> | <li>A field name without quotation marks. In this case, the function call must be embedded in a <var>[[Record_loops#FOR_EACH_RECORD_statement|FOR EACH RECORD]]</var> loop where the current value of the field is verified.</li> | ||
</ul></ | </ul></td></tr> | ||
< | <tr><th>language</th> | ||
<td>An optional string that specifies the language to use. <var class="term">language</var> is handled as follows: | |||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li>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 the following error message. See the <var>[[LANGUSER parameter|LANGUSER]]</var> parameter for the valid values. | <li>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 the following error message. See the <var>[[LANGUSER parameter|LANGUSER]]</var> parameter for the valid values. | ||
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<li>If you omit the <var class="term">language</var> argument, <var class="product">Model 204</var> performs the validation in U.S. English, even if the value of the <var>LANGUSER</var> parameter is not <code>US</code>, and lowercase characters are not recognized.</li> | <li>If you omit the <var class="term">language</var> argument, <var class="product">Model 204</var> performs the validation in U.S. English, even if the value of the <var>LANGUSER</var> parameter is not <code>US</code>, and lowercase characters are not recognized.</li> | ||
<li>An asterisk enclosed in quotation marks (<tt>'*'</tt>) instructs <var class="product">Model 204</var> to use the value of the <var>LANGUSER</var> parameter. | <li>An asterisk enclosed in quotation marks (<tt>'*'</tt>) instructs <var class="product">Model 204</var> to use the value of the <var>LANGUSER</var> parameter. </li> | ||
</li> | </ul></td></tr> | ||
</ul></ | </table> | ||
</ | |||
==Examples== | ==Examples== | ||
Latest revision as of 20:04, 8 January 2018
The $Alpha function verifies whether a string is composed only of characters that are valid in the specified (or default) language.
Syntax
%result = $Alpha(string [,language])
| %result | A numeric variable that contains:
|
|---|---|
| string | The string to be verified. string must be one of the following:
|
| language | An optional string that specifies the language to use. language is handled as follows:
|
Examples
The following table has examples of the string and language arguments as literals.
| Function code... | Returns... |
|---|---|
|
$alpha('JOHN','US') |
1 |
$alpha('MÂCON','FRENCHC') |
1 |
$alpha('MÂCON','US') |
0 |
$alpha('JOHN SMITH','US') |
0 |
$alpha('ÎLE D'ORLÉANS','FRENCHC') |
0 |
$alpha('12A','US') |
0 |
$alpha('12A','FRENCHC') |
0 |
In the following code example, the request sorts and prints the names of agents whose name contains nonalphabetic characters. The quoted asterisk in the $Alpha call causes Model 204 to verify the contents of the field AGENT against whatever language is indicated by the value of the LANGUSER parameter:
RESET LANGUSER 'FRENCHC' BEGIN POL.HOLDERS: FIND ALL RECORDS FOR WHICH RECTYPE = POLICYHOLDER END FIND FOR EACH RECORD IN POL.HOLDERS IF NOT $alpha (AGENT, '*') THEN PLACE RECORD ON LIST BADNAME END IF END FOR ORDERED.LIST: SORT RECORDS ON LIST BADNAME BY AGENT FOR EACH RECORD IN ORDERED.LIST PRINT AGENT END FOR 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.