String functions

String functions operate on ANY_STRING (STRING, WSTRING); a few accept ANY_CHARS (also CHAR/WCHAR) for the search/replace fragment. Character positions are 1-based — the first character is at position 1, and FIND returns 0 when the substring is not present.

Function	Parameters	Returns
LEN	IN : ANY_STRING	INT
LEFT	IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT	ANY_STRING
RIGHT	IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT	ANY_STRING
MID	IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT, P : ANY_INT	ANY_STRING
CONCAT	IN : ANY_STRING (2+ args)	ANY_STRING
INSERT	IN1 : ANY_STRING, IN2 : ANY_STRING, P : ANY_INT	ANY_STRING
DELETE	IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT, P : ANY_INT	ANY_STRING
REPLACE	IN1 : ANY_STRING, IN2 : ANY_CHARS, L : ANY_INT, P : ANY_INT	ANY_STRING
FIND	IN1 : ANY_STRING, IN2 : ANY_CHARS	ANY_INT

LEN — length

LEN(IN : ANY_STRING) : INT

n := LEN('Hello');   // 5

LEFT, RIGHT — leading / trailing substring

Return the first / last L characters of IN.

LEFT(IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT) : ANY_STRING
RIGHT(IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT) : ANY_STRING

prefix := LEFT(code, 3);     // first 3 characters
suffix := RIGHT(code, 2);    // last 2 characters

MID — substring at a position

MID(IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT, P : ANY_INT) : ANY_STRING

Returns L characters from IN starting at 1-based position P.

middle := MID('ABCDEF', 3, 2);   // 'CDE' starts at position 2 -> 'CDE'

CONCAT — concatenation

CONCAT is variadic (two or more inputs).

CONCAT(IN : ANY_STRING, ...) : ANY_STRING   // 2+ args

greeting := CONCAT('Hello, ', name, '!');

INSERT — insert a string

INSERT(IN1 : ANY_STRING, IN2 : ANY_STRING, P : ANY_INT) : ANY_STRING

Inserts IN2 into IN1 after 1-based position P.

result := INSERT('ABEF', 'CD', 2);   // 'ABCDEF'

DELETE — remove characters

DELETE(IN : ANY_STRING, L : ANY_INT, P : ANY_INT) : ANY_STRING

Removes L characters from IN starting at 1-based position P.

trimmed := DELETE('ABCDEF', 2, 3);   // remove 'CD' -> 'ABEF'

REPLACE — replace a span

REPLACE(IN1 : ANY_STRING, IN2 : ANY_CHARS, L : ANY_INT, P : ANY_INT) : ANY_STRING

Replaces L characters of IN1 starting at 1-based position P with IN2.

fixed := REPLACE('ABCDEF', 'XY', 2, 3);   // replace 'CD' -> 'ABXYEF'

FIND — locate a substring

FIND(IN1 : ANY_STRING, IN2 : ANY_CHARS) : ANY_INT

Returns the 1-based position of the first occurrence of IN2 within IN1, or 0 if it is not found.

pos := FIND(line, 'ERROR');   // 0 when not present
IF pos > 0 THEN
    // handle the error marker
END_IF