Strings Functions

The Strings category contains the following functions:

Left

Function	Left
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns the specified number of leftmost characters from a character string.
Format	Left(Expression, Characters) Expression specifies the character expression whose leftmost characters are returned. Characters specifies the number of characters returned from the character expression. Left( ) returns the entire character expression if Characters is greater than the length of Expression. Left( ) returns an empty string if Characters is negative or 0.
Evaluates to	Characters are returned beginning with the first character on the left and continuing for a specified number of characters.
Example	Left("Melvin Jones", 5) Evaluates to "Melvi". Left(Person.LastName, 5) Evaluates to "Stege" if the person's last name is Stegemiller. Evaluates to "Smith" if the person's last name is Smith. Evaluates to "Lee" if the person's last name is Lee.

Right

Function	Right
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns the specified number of rightmost characters from a character string.
Format	Right(Expression, Characters) Expression specifies the character expression whose rightmost characters are returned. Characters specifies the number of characters returned from the character expression. Right returns the entire character expression if Characters is greater than the length of Expression. Right returns an empty string if Characters is negative or 0.
Evaluates to	Characters are returned beginning with the last character on the right and continuing for a specified number of characters.
Example	Right("Melvin Jones", 5) Evaluates to "Jones". Right(Person.LastName, 5 Evaluates to "iller" if the person's last name is Stegemiller. Evaluates to "Smith" if the person's last name is Smith. Evaluates to "Lee" if the person's last name is Lee.

SubStr

Function	SubStr
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns a character string from the given character expression.
Format	SubStr(Expression, StartPosition, OptionalCharactersReturned) Expression specifies the character expression from which the character string is returned. StartPosition specifies the position in the character expression Expression from where the character string is returned. The first character of Expression is position 1. OptionalCharactersReturned specifies the number of characters to return from Expression. If you omit OptionalCharactersReturned, characters are returned until the end of the character expression is reached.
Evaluates to	A character string from a character expression, starting at a specified position in the character expression and continuing for a specified number of characters.
Example	SubStr("Melvin", 1, 3) Evaluates to "Mel". SubStr("Melvin", 2, 2) Evaluates to "el". SubStr("Melvin", 4) Evaluates to "vin".

Char

Function

Char

Location in PracticeScript

Functions->Strings

Purpose

Returns the character associated with the specified numeric ANSI code.

Format

Char(ANSICode).
ANSICode specifies a number between 0 and 255 whose equivalent ANSI character Char returns. See the following table for popular ANSI codes.

Evaluates to

A single character corresponding to the numeric position of the character in the ANSI character table.

Example

Char(65) returns "A". Char(49) returns "1".

Character	ANSI
1	49
2	50
3	51
4	52
5	53
6	54
7	55
8	56
9	57
0	48

Character	ANSI lowercase	ANSI uppercase
a	97	65
b	98	66
c	99	67
d	100	68
e	101	69
f	102	70
g	103	71
h	104	72
i	105	73
j	106	74
k	107	75
l	108	76
m	109	77
n	110	78
o	111	79
p	112	80
q	113	81
r	114	82
s	115	83
t	116	84
u	117	85
v	118	86
w	119	87
x	120	88
y	121	89
z	122	90

Format

Function

Format

Location in PracticeScript

Functions->Strings

Purpose

Returns a character string from a numeric expression in a format determined by a format code.

Format

Format(Expression, FormatCode)
Expression specifies the numeric expression to be formatted. FormatCode specifies one or more format codes that determine how the expression is formatted. The following tables list the available format codes. All numbers are rounded to the last decimal position that appears in the formatting picture. If the number does not fit in the picture, asterisks are returned. If the picture is invalid, a series of '??' are returned.

Evaluates to

Formatted character string.

Example

Code	Function
9	A normal digit. Zeros are printed as-is (including leading 0s).
Z	If a leading 0 appears in the digit position, it is formatted as a space. Z is treated the same as a 9 after the decimal point.
,	The comma may be inserted in the number to divide digit positions. If a comma appears in a leading 0 position, it is formatted as a leading 0 would be (depending on the use of *, Z, or 9).
.	The decimal point (if present), aligns the formatted number. Decimal points are not valid for non-floating point numbers.
$	If only one-dollar sign appears in the picture, it is fixed in that position. Two or more dollar signs in the picture represent a floating sign. All but the last sign is formatted as spaces when leading 0s appear.
-	The minus sign may appear either at the front or end of the number only. If it appears at the front, two or more are required for a floating minus sign (i.e., it functions as the $).
*	If a leading 0 appears in the digit position, it is formatted as a '*' character.

Integer numbers may also have the following characters in their output picture:

8 An octal digit.

H A hexadecimal digit. The different number bases MAY NOT BE MIXED!

Expression	FormatCode	Resulting character string
1234.5678	9999999.99	0001234.57
1234.5678	ZZZ,ZZ9.99	1,234.57
1234.5678	$ZZ,ZZ9.99	$1,234.57
1234.5678	$$$,$$9.99	$1,234.57
1234.5678	$$Z,ZZ9.99	$1,234,57
4.5	***,$$9.99	*****$4.50
4.5	$,9.99	$*****4.50
-1234.5678	ZZZ,ZZ9.99	1,234.57
-1234.5678	-ZZ,ZZ9.99	-1,234.57
-1234.5678	--$,$Z9.99	-$1,234.57
-1234.5678	ZZZ,ZZ9.99 -	1,234.57 -
0.5	ZZZ,ZZZ.ZZ	.50
0.5	ZZZ,ZZ9.99	0.50
-0.5	$,$Z9.99	-$0.50

PadRight

Function	PadRight
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns a string of characters from an expression, padded with spaces or other characters on the right side to a specified length. If the expression has more characters than the specified length, PadRight() drops the excess characters off of the left end.
Format	PadRight(Expression, ResultSize, OptionalPadCharacter) Expression specifies the character expression to be padded. ResultSize specifies the total number of characters in the expression after it is padded. OptionalPadCharacter specifies the value to use for padding. This value is repeated as necessary to pad the expression to the specified number of characters. If you omit OptionalPadCharacter, spaces (ANSI character 32) are used for padding.
Evaluates to	A character string.
Example	PadRight("Hello", 10, "!") Returns "Hello!!!!!" PadRight("Test", 5) Returns "Test " (note the trailing space) PadRight(Person.LastName, 8, "X") Evaluates to "SmithXXX" if the person's last name is Smith.; Evaluates to "Zebriski" if the person's last name is Zebriski. Evaluates to "gemiller" if the person's last name is Stegemiller.

PadLeft

Function	PadLeft
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns a string of characters from an expression, padded with spaces or other characters on the left side, to a specified length. If the expression has more characters than the specified length, PadLeft() drops the excess characters off of the right end.
Format	PadLeft(Expression, ResultSize, OptionalPadCharacter)Expression specifies the expression to be padded. ResultSize specifies the total number of characters in the expression after it is padded. OptionalPadCharacter specifies the value to use for padding. This value is repeated as necessary to pad the expression to the ResultSize. If you omit OptionalPadCharacter, spaces (ANSI character 32) are used for padding.
Evaluates to	A character string.
Example	PadLeft("Hello", 10, "!") Returns "!!!!!Hello" PadLeft("Test'", 5) Returns " Test" (note the leading space) PadLeft(Person.LastName, 8, "X") Evaluates to "XXXSmith" if the person's last name is Smith. Evaluates to "Zebriski" if the person's last name is Zebriski. Evaluates to "Stegemil" if the person's last name is Stegemiller.

TrimRight

Function	TrimRight
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns a character string that results from removing the trailing blanks from a character expression.
Format	TrimRight(Expression) Expression specifies the character expression from which trailing blanks are trimmed.
Evaluates to	A character string.
Example	TrimRight("Hello ") Returns "Hello".

TrimLeft

Function	TrimLeft
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns a character string that results from removing the leading blanks from a character expression.
Format	TrimLeft(Expression) Expression specifies the character expression from which leading blanks are trimmed.
Evaluates to	A character string.
Example	TrimLeft(" Hello") Returns "Hello".

TrimAll

Function	TrimAll
Location in PracticeScript	Functions->Strings
Purpose	Returns a character string that results from removing the leading and trailing blanks from a character expression.
Format	TrimAll(Expression) Expression specifies the character expression from which leading and trailing blanks are trimmed.
Evaluates to	A character string.
Example	TrimAll(" Hello ") Returns "Hello".