Given a full-time string in CCYYMMDD HHMMSS, YYMMDD HHMMSS, HHMMSS or HHMM format, the SECONDS function returns the number of seconds since the SheerPower base date (January 1, 1600 00:00:00).

The number of seconds is returned as a floating point number.

Example 6-44 SECONDS function

z = seconds('20000122 103050') z1 = seconds('990122 103050') z2 = seconds('103050') z3 = seconds('1030') print 'Seconds cymdhms ='; z print 'Seconds ymdhms ='; z1 print 'Seconds hms ='; z2 print 'Seconds hm ='; z3 end Seconds cymdhms = 12624633050 seconds ymdhms = 12593097050 seconds hms = 37850 seconds hm = 37800

6.3.7 TIME(int_expr)

The value returned by the TIME function depends on the value of int_expr.

If int_expr = 0, TIME returns the number of seconds since midnight.

If int_expr = 1, TIME returns the CPU time of the process in tenths of a second.

If int_expr = 2, TIME returns connect time of the current process in minutes.

Example 6-45 TIME function

print time(0) print time(1) print time(2) end 67004 1 0

6.3.8 TIME(5)

TIME(5) returns the number of seconds since SheerPower was invoked. This function can be used to time events to the nearest 100th/sec.

Example 6-46 TIME(5) function

print time(5) .03

6.3.9 TIME$

or

TIME$(num_expr)

If num_expr is NOT specified, TIME$ returns the current time of day in HH:MM:SS format.

num_expr is the number of seconds since midnight. The result is returned in HH:MM format.

Example 6-47 TIME$ function

print time$(1800) print time$(54178) print time$ end 00:30 15:02 11:33:27

6.3.10 Pivot Date

Many applications allow the end-user to enter a six-digit date. For a six-digit date, SheerPower 4GL needs to know if the YEAR is in the 19th century or the 20th century. For example:

161231

Is this 1916, December 31st or is this 2016, December 31st?

By default, SheerPower assumes that if a six-digit date is given, and the YEAR is less than 20, then this is the 20th century. In the example above,:

161231 --> December 31, 2016

The default PIVOT DATE is year 20.

The default pivot date can be changed by creating a logical:

SheerPower_Y2K_PIVOT

This can be done with the following small program:

Example 6-48 Pivot Date Logical

set system, logical 'SheerPower_Y2K_PIVOT': value '17'

You can add the following to the c:\sheerpower\sp4gl_YOURNAME.ini file:

[logicals] SheerPower_Y2K_PIVOT=17

Then the value will automatically be setup for all SheerPower applications. The logical is checked for only ONCE at sp4gl.exe STARTUP time.

The following are string manipulation functions that SheerPower performs:

The ASCII function returns the decimal ASCII value of a string's first character. It is returned as an integer. The Section 6.4.4 is the opposite of the ASCII function.

Example 6-49 ASCII function

print ascii('A') 65

6.4.2 CHANGE$(str_expr1, str_expr2, str_expr3)

CHANGE$ changes specified characters in str_expr1. str_expr1 is the source string. str_expr2 contains the target characters, and str_expr3 specifies the substitution characters. CHANGE$ returns the changed string.

CHANGE$ searches for the target characters within the source string and replaces these characters with the substitution characters. The substitution characters are mapped onto the target characters.

Example 6-50 CHANGE$ function

let a$ = 'bdbdbdbd' let b$ = 'b' let c$ = 'c' let changed$ = change$(a$, b$, c$) print a$ print changed$ end bdbdbdbd cdcdcdcd

6.4.3 CHARSET$[(str_expr)]

CHARSET$ returns the character set specified. The optional string expression can be used to specify the character set to return. The available character sets are:

Table 6-4 Available character sets for CHARSET$

	UCASE	all upper-case letters (A-Z)
	LCASE	all lower-case letters (a-z)
	CONTROL	all control characters (ASCII 0-31)
	ASCII	the ASCII character set, in order (0-255)

ASCII is the default character set for CHARSET$.

Example 6-51 CHARSET$ function

line input 'Enter your text': text$ // change upper-case to lower-case ct$ = change$(text$, & charset$('ucase'), & charset$('lcase')) print 'Lower-case version is:'; ct$ end Enter your text? TESTER Lower-case version is: tester

6.4.4 CHR$(int_expr1[, int_expr2])

CHR$ returns a string with the specified ASCII value (int_expr1) repeated the specified number of times (int_expr2). If no count is specified, a default count of one is used.

Example 6-52 CHR$ function

x = 65 print chr$(x) // prints A -- the 65th ASCII character end A

6.4.5 CONVERT$(int_expr1 [[, int_expr2], int_expr3])

Given an integer (int_expr1) and an optional length (int_expr2), which defaults to four, the CONVERT$ function returns a string mapping of the integer.

If the optional data type (int_expr3) is 17, the returned string will be a packed floating (PF).

The following data types are supported:

Table 6-5 CONVERT$ function - supported data types

Data Type	Conversion Result
1	Integer (2 or 4 byte)
7	COBOL comp-3 (C3 packed decimal)
17	Packed floating (PF)

Example 6-53 CONVERT$ function - supported data types

a$ = convert$(16961) print a$ end AB

6.4.6 CONVERT(str_expr)

Given a string containing a mapped integer, the CONVERT function returns the integer value.

Example 6-54 CONVERT function

a$ = 'AB' b = convert(a$) print b end 16961

The CONVERT and CONVERT$ functions can be used in situations such as building segmented keys consisting of multiple data types.

CPAD$ returns a new string, padded on the left and on the right with pad characters. text_str is the string to be centered, size is the size of the new string. The default pad character is a space.

Example 6-55 CPAD$ function

print cpad$('123', 9, '0') end 000123000

6.4.8 EDIT$(str_expr,int_expr)

EDIT$ performs one or more editing operations on the supplied string argument, depending on the value of the integer expression. The integer expression is one of the integers below, or a sum of integers below for the desired edit functions:

Table 6-6 EDIT$ function - operation values

Value	Edit Operation
1	Trim parity bits.
2	Discard all spaces and tabs.
4	Discard characters: CR, LF, FF, ESC, RUBOUT and NULL.
8	Discard leading spaces and tabs.
16	Reduce spaces and tabs to One space.
32	Convert lower case to upper case.
64	Convert "[" to "(" and "]" to ")".
128	Discard trailing spaces and tabs.
256	Do not alter characters inside quotes.

Example 6-56 EDIT$ function

print edit$('hi there, how are you today?' , 32) HI THERE, HOW ARE YOU TODAY?