Before (String function)

Part of string before a substring (String class)

[Introduced in Model 204 7.5]

Before operates on a string and returns the portion of that string prior to the user-specified delimiter. To get the portion of the string after a delimiter, use the After string method.

Syntax

%outString = string:Before( substring, [Start= number])

Syntax terms

%outString	A String or Longstring variable that must be long enough to hold the resulting parsed string. If a defined string length is shorter than needed to hold the result, a request canceling error occurs.
string	A String or Longstring variable that holds the string to be parsed.
substring	A String or Longstring variable that holds the separator character or characters on which parsing occurs.
Start	A number that is the starting point for parsing. The default value is 1, indicating the beginning of the string. This is a name allowed argument, and it cannot be 0. If a value larger than the string is specified, the method returns a null string.

Usage notes

• As the examples below show, if a starting value is entered, the %outString value is the content of the string beginning at the specified start point and ending at either of these:
  • The character before the first delimiter encountered after the start point.
  • The end of the string.
• The delimiter string is not a list of individual delimiters, but a single delimiter which may be multiple characters. In other words, if your delimiter is ok, the method looks for occurrences of those two lowercase letters and returns a value from the string that precedes the occurrence of those letters.
• Before is always case-sensitive.

Examples

The following request prints I am the Eggman:

begin %x is string len 64 initial('I am the Eggman! I am the Walrus! Koo Koo Kachoo!') printText {%x:before('!')} end

The following request prints Eggman:

begin %x is string len 64 initial('I am the Eggman! I am the Walrus! Koo Koo Kachoo!') printText {%x:before('!',start=10)} end

The following prints each blank-delimited word, one at a time:

begin %x is string len 64 initial('I am the Eggman! I am the Walrus! Koo Koo Kachoo!') repeat while %x:length print %x:before(' ') %x = %x:after(' ') end repeat end

See also

• After

Float class String class Unicode class	List of Float methods List of String methods List of Unicode methods List of Intrinsic methods	Float methods syntax String methods syntax Unicode methods syntax
Notation conventions for methods