$Alpha

The $Alpha function verifies whether a string is composed only of characters which are valid in the specified (or default) language. A 1 is returned if the condition is true; otherwise, a 0 is returned (for a false condition). A 0 is returned if there are any spaces or punctuation marks in the string, or if the string is null.

Syntax

The format of the $Alpha function is:

$Alpha(string [,language])

where:

• string represents the string to be verified. string must be one of:

A literal enclosed in quotation marks

• %variable.
• A field name without 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.

The optional language argument specifies the language to use. The language argument 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 the following error message. See The LANGUSER parameter in the Rocket Model 204 Parameter and Command Reference Manual for the valid values.

M204.2340: INVALID LANGUAGE ARGUMENT: 'language' FOR $FUNCTION: ALPHA

• When 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 table has examples of the pattern and language arguments as literals:

Function code...	Returns...
$alpha('JOHN','US')	1
$alpha('M�CON','FRENCHC')	1
$alpha('M�CON','US')	0
$alpha('JOHN SMITH','US')	0
$alpha('�LE D'ORL�ANS','FRENCHC')	0
$alpha('12A','US')	0
$alpha('12A','FRENCHC')	0

The following request sorts and prints the names of agents whose name contains non alphabetic 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:

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.