Description
Finds the position of a substring in a string, where the substring can be delimited by any ANSI character.
Syntax
Locate substring In string [Using delim] Setting start Then | Else statements
Parameters
The Locate statement has the following parameters.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| substring | Specifies the value whose position is to be located in string. |
| String | Designates the string that is to be searched. |
| Delim | Specifies the character that delimits the string. It may be any ANSI character. If dynamic arrays are being searched, delim should be a field mark (@FM), value mark (@VM), or a subvalue mark (@SVM). If a Using clause is not specified, a value mark is assumed. Do not include a delim character in the substring expression. |
| Start | When the substring has been found in string, the number that corresponds to its position in the string is assigned to start, specified in the Setting clause. The number assigned will relate to the last parameter that was specified in delim. That is, if a field mark is specified, the field number is assigned; if a value mark is specified, the value number is assigned; if a subvalue mark is specified, the subvalue number is assigned. If the substring following Locate cannot be found, the Setting variable identifier will be assigned a value of one greater than the number of positions in the string, and the Else statement is executed. |
| Then | If the first string is found, the statements following Then are executed. |
| Else | If the first string is not found, the statements following Else are executed. |
See also
If, [ ] (Brackets operator), Extract, Field(), FieldStore(), Index(), InList(), Locate...By
Remarks
For information about string handling, refer to the "Dynamic Arrays" topic of your system documentation. For sorted data, refer to Locate...By.
Example
/* People is an array of names and phone numbers. People<1> is a multi-value (@VM-delimited) list of names. People<2> is a multi-value (@VM-delimited) list of phone numbers. */ Locate "Bob" In People<1> Using @VM Setting POS Then * Bob is in the list - delete him People = Delete(PEOPLE, 1, POS, 0) ; * delete the name. People = Delete(PEOPLE, 2, POS, 0) ; * delete the phone number. End
