Before (String function): Difference between revisions

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<table class="syntaxTable">
<table class="syntaxTable">
<tr><th>%outString</th>
<tr><th>%outString</th>
<td>A string or longstring variable.  if a string is specified it must be long enough to hold the resulting parsed string. If a string is defined shorter than needed to hold the result, a request canceling error occurs.</td></tr>
<td>A <var>String</var> or <var>Longstring</var> 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.</td></tr>
 
<tr><th>string</th>
<tr><th>string</th>
<td>A string or longstring variable that holds the string to be parsed.</td></tr>
<td>A <var>String</var> or <var>Longstring</var> variable that holds the string to be parsed.</td></tr>
 
<tr><th>substring</th>
<tr><th>substring</th>
<td>A string or longstring that holds the separator character or characters on which parsing occurs.</td></tr>
<td>A <var>String</var> or <var>Longstring</var> variable that holds the separator character or characters on which parsing occurs.</td></tr>
 
<tr><th><var>Start</var></th>
<tr><th><var>Start</var></th>
<td>number<br/>The starting point for parsing. The default value is 1, indicating the beginning of the string.  This is a name-optional argument and cannot be 0.  If a value larger than the string is specified, the method always returns a null string.</td></tr>
<td>A number that is the starting point for parsing. The default value is 1, indicating the beginning of the string.  This is a [[Notation_conventions_for_methods#Named_arguments|name allowed]] argument, and it cannot be 0.  If a value larger than the string is specified, the method returns a null string.</td></tr>
</table>
</table>


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<li>The delimiter string is <i>not</i> a list of individual delimiters, but a single delimiter which may be multiple characters. In other words, if your delimiter is <code>ok</code>, the method looks for occurrences of those two lowercase letters and returns a value from the string that precedes the occurrence of those letters. </li>
<li>The delimiter string is <i>not</i> a list of individual delimiters, but a single delimiter which may be multiple characters. In other words, if your delimiter is <code>ok</code>, the method looks for occurrences of those two lowercase letters and returns a value from the string that precedes the occurrence of those letters. </li>


<li>This method is always case-sensitive. </li>
<li><var>Before</var> is always case-sensitive. </li>
</ul>
</ul>



Revision as of 17:37, 6 June 2014

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