SheerPower® 4GL
A Guide to the SheerPower Language
Previous Contents Index

6.4.42 UNQUOTE$(str_expr)

The UNQUOTE$ function removes one set of quotes from a quoted string expression. If the string expression is not quoted, UNQUOTE$ leaves the string alone. UNQUOTE$ does not affect internally quoted elements.

Example 6-96 UNQUOTE$ function 

  do
    print at 1,1: 
    message 'Enter a line of text to be unquoted' 
    print 'Text:' 
    input '', length 50: line$ 
    if  _back or _exit  then exit do
    if  line$ = ''  then repeat do
    print 
    print 'Quotes removed using the UNQUOTE$ function...' 
    print unquote$(line$) 
    delay
  loop
  end
 
 
Text: 
? "I will not take these 'things' for granted." 
 
Quotes removed using the UNQUOTE$ function... 
I will not take these 'things' for granted.

6.4.43 VAL(num_str)

VAL returns the floating-point value of a numeric string.

Example 6-97 VAL function 

  text$ = "My age is 20" 
  z0$   = element$(text$, 4, ' ') 
  age   = val(z0$) 
  print 'In 10 years I will be'; age + 10 
  end
  
  
In 10 years I will be 30

6.4.44 WRAP$(str_expr, int_expr1, int_expr2)

WRAP$ returns a word-wrapped text string, given left and right margins. Each line of the string is separated with a CR/LF.

Where string_expr = text string to wrap, int_expr1 = left margin, int_expr2 = right margin.

Example 6-98 WRAP$ function 

 
  input 'Type in a sentence' ; text$ 
  text$ = wrap$(text$, 5, 15) 
  print text$ 
  end
  
  
Type in a sentence? This is an example of the wrap$ function. 
     This is an 
     example of 
     the wrap$ 
     function.

6.4.45 XLATE$(str_expr1, str_expr2)

The XLATE$ function translates one string to another by referencing a table you supply. For example, the XLATE$ function can translate from EBCDIC to ASCII. The first str_expr is the string to be translated. The second str_expr is the translation table.

Example 6-99 XLATE$ function 

  a$ = charset$
  a$[66:66] = 'x'  // change the "A" to a lowercase "x" 
  print xlate$('DAN', a$) 
  end
 
 
DxN

6.5 String Searching and Comparing Functions

The following are string searching and comparing functions that SheerPower performs:

6.5.1 COMPARE(str_expr1, str_expr2)

The COMPARE function compares two strings and returns a numeric value ranging from 0 (no match) to 100 (an exact match).

Example 6-100 COMPARE function 

  options$ = 'LEFT,RIGHT,UP,DOWN' 
  best = 0 
  best$ = '' 
  input 'Enter an option': usr_opt$ 
  for idx = 1 to elements(options$) 
    opt$  = element$(options$, idx) 
    score = compare(opt$, usr_opt$) 
    if  score > best  then
      best  = score 
      best$ = opt$ 
    end if
  next idx 
  select case best 
  case 0 
    print 'Unknown option: '; usr_opt$ 
  case 100 
    print 'Option okay, it was: '; usr_opt$ 
  case else
    print 'Misspelled option: '; usr_opt$ 
    print using 'Did you mean ? (## percent)': best$, best 
  end select
  end
 
 
Enter an option? dwn 
Misspelled option: dwn 
Did you mean DOWN (92 percent)

6.5.2 ITEM(str_expr1, str_expr2)

The ITEM function returns the number of the first item that matches the whole or partial item name given. A negative number is returned if more than one item matches.

Quoted data is treated as one element; the quotes are not removed.

Example 6-101 ITEM function 

  z = item('ADD,EXIT,EXTRACT,MODIFY', 'MOD')   
  print z 
  end
 
 
4

Example 6-102 ITEM function 

  z = item('ADD,EXIT,EXTRACT,MODIFY', 'EX') 
  print z 
  end
 
 
-2

6.5.3 MATCH(str_expr1, str_expr2 [, TRUE])

str_expr1 contains a list of elements separated by commas. str_expr2 contains a string. MATCH compares str_expr2 with each of the elements in str_expr1 and gives the number of the element that matches.

The TRUE parameter is used if the match is to be case-exact. The default is case-insensitive.

Example 6-103 MATCH function 

  a$ = 'BLUE' 
  b$ = 'Blue' 
  c$ = a$ 
  do
    x = match('Red,White,Blue', c$, true) 
    print c$; 
    if  x > 0  then
      print ' is a match.' 
    else
      print ' is not a match.' 
      c$ = b$ 
      repeat do
    end if
  end do
  end
 
 
BLUE is not a match. 
Blue is a match.

6.5.4 PATTERN(str_expr1, str_expr2)

This function matches any characters in text (str_expr1) with the pattern (str_expr2). str_expr1 is the text to search and str_expr2 is the pattern being searched for. It returns the location of the first character in the text that contains the pattern. If the characters cannot be found, it returns zero.

PATTERN Options and Examples

Pattern options can be mixed and matched with unlimited complexity.

?

The "?" matches any character in the text.

Example 6-104 PATTERN function - ? 

  if  pattern('The quick brown fox', & 
     'f?x') > 0  then
     print 'Found' 
  end if
  end
                                 
 
Found

*

The "*" matches one or more of a character that precedes the single asterisk (*).
It matches zero or more of a character that precedes the double asterisk (**).

Example 6-105 PATTERN function -* 

  if  pattern('aaa   01/26/99', 'a* *01/26/99') > 0  then
    print 'The date is found' 
  end if 
  end
                
 
The date is found

{}

The {} is used to define a group of characters. The characters in the enclosed group can be ranges such as {a-z} or individual characters such as {AQX}.

Example 6-106 PATTERN function - { } 

  text$ = 'A1N5V7N0' 
  rule_str$ = '{A-Z}{0-9}{A-Z}{0-9}{A-Z}{0-9}{A-Z}{0-9}' 
  if  pattern(text$, rule_str$) > 0  then  
    print "Driver's license is correct." 
  end if
  end  
 
 
Driver's license is correct

{^}

The {^} looks for characters that are NOT {^A-Z}. The result below shows the difference between using '?' and {^}.

Example 6-107 PATTERN function - {^ } 

  print pattern('Mary J. Smith','{^Mar}') 
  print pattern('Mary J. Smith','J. {^S}') 
  print pattern('Mary J. Smith','J. S?') 
  end
 
 
4 
0  
6

~

The '~' (quote) character looks for a pattern of text that IS an * (stands for itself).

Example 6-108 PATTERN function - ~ 

  text$ = '$4,670.00' 
  if  pattern(text$, '$~4,670.00') > 0  then 
    print 'Your text is correct.' 
  end if 
  end
                     
 
Your text is correct.

{|nnn,nnn,nnn|}

This feature lets you designate binary data for detecting patterns that are not printable text characters. The characters in the enclosed group can be individual byte values such as {|13|} or groups such as {|0,13,200|}. Since {A-Z} is the range of A through Z, the proper syntax for this same range using byte values would be {{|65|}-{|90|}}.

Example 6-109 PATTERN function - { |nnn,nnn,nnn | } 

  text$ = 'Help yourself to some ' + chr$(13) + 'food' 
  if  pattern(text$, '{|13|}') > 0  then
    print 'Carriage return found.' 
  end if
  end
 
 
Carriage return found.

{<cc|ccc|c>}

The {<cc|ccc|c>} looks for text in str_expr1 that matches the enclosed groups.

Example 6-110 PATTERN function - { <cc |ccc |c > } 

  text$ = 'The area code is 619' 
  if  pattern(text$, 'is {<619|714|916>}') > 0  then
    print 'Your area code is on the list.' 
  end if 
  end
                       
 
Your area code is on the list.

Previous Next Contents Index