Text rule functions
This topic describes the available text rule functions.
CAPIT
Returns the result of capitalizing the first letter of every word in a string and making the remaining characters lower case.
Syntax
CAPIT(String)
Where String is a string or a formula which returns a string.
Example
CAPIT('Alea iacta Est') returns "Alea Iacta Est"
CHAR
Returns a string of one character which has an ASCII code of a specified number.
Syntax
CHAR(Value)
Where Value is an integer.
Example
CHAR(97) returns "a"
CHAR(49) returns "1"
CODE
Returns the ASCII code which corresponds to the character in a given position within a string.
Syntax
CODE(String,Location)
Where String is a string and location is the position within the string of the character in question. The first character of a string has location 1, the second, location 2 etc.
Location must be a positive integer.
Example
CODE('3121', 2) returns "49"
CODE('1', 1) returns "49"
CODE('iacta', 2) returns "97"
CODE('a', 1) returns "97"
DELET
Returns a string obtained by deleting a specified number of characters from a string.
Syntax
DELET(String,StartLocation,N)
Where String is the string from which to delete characters, StartLocation is the location in the string from which to start deleting characters (1 being the first character in the string), and N is the number of characters to delete.
Examples
DELET('Alea', 2, 2) returns "AA"
DELET('IACTA', 1, 4) returns "A"
FILL
Returns a string of a specified length that repeats a specified string.
Syntax
FILL(String, Length)
Where String is the string that will be repeated and Length is the length of the resulting string. The first argument must be a string or formula resulting in a string. The second argument must be a positive non-zero integer or formula resulting in a positive non-zero integer.
Examples
FILL('/', 5) returns "/////"
FILL('xy', 5) returns "xyxyx"
INSRT
Returns a string obtained by inserting a string into another string, before an indicated position.
Syntax
INSRT(String1, String2, Location)
Where String1 is the string to be inserted, String2 is the string into which String1 will be inserted, and Location is the location in String 1 before which String 2 will be inserted.
Examples
INSRT('IACTA', 'ALEA EST', 5) returns "ALEA IACTA EST"
INSRT('ALEA ', 'IACTA EST', 1) returns "ALEA IACTA EST"
LONG
Returns the length of a string.
Syntax
LONG(String)
Where String is a string, or a formula which returns a string.
Example
Long('Alea') returns 4.
LOWER
Displays the result of changing every upper case letter in a string to lower case.
Syntax
Lower(String)
Where String is a string, or a formula which returns a string.
Example
LOWER('Alea iacta Est') returns "alea iacta est" NUMBR
Converts a string to its numerical value.
Syntax
NUMBR(String)
Where String is a string, or a formula which returns a string. All characters except '0' through '9', '+', '-','.' and 'E' are ignored. If String cannot be converted to a number, the result is undefined.
Examples
NUMBR('-7.8') returns "-7.8"
NUMBR('-6A.A6A') returns "-6.6")
NUMBR('-- 7') is undefined.
SCAN
Returns a number which indicates the starting location of the first occurrence of a string within another string.
Syntax
SCAN(String1, String2)
Where String1 is the string to be searched for and String2 is the string in which the search occurs. Both arguments must be strings or formulas that return strings. If String1 does not occur in String2 then the function returns "0".
Example
SCAN('IACTA','Alea IACTA EST') returns "6"
STR
Converts a number to a string.
Syntax
STR(Value, Length, Decimals)
Where Value is the value to be converted into a string, Length is the maximum length of the resulting string and Decimals is the number of decimal places that must be indicated by the string.
Example
STR(1.23456, 6, 2) returns " 1.23" (a six character string with two leading blanks)
SUBST
Returns a substring of a specified string with a specified length beginning at a specified character.
Syntax
SUBST(String, Beginning, Length)
Where String is the string from which you want to return the substring, Beginning is the number of the character in String that should be the first character of the substring, and Length is the length of the substring. The first argument must be a string or a formula that returns a string. The second two arguments must be integers. If non-integral values are entered in the second two arguments, they will be rounded to the nearest integer.
Example
SUBST('Alea IACTA EST', 6, 5) returns "IACTA"
TRIM
Trims tailing and leading blanks in a string.
Syntax
TRIM(String)
Where String is a string, or a formula which returns a string.
Example
TRIM(' Alea IACTA EST ') returns "Alea IACTA EST" .
UPPER
Converts every lower case letter in a string to upper case.
Syntax
UPPER(String)
Example
UPPER('Alea IACTA est') returns "ALEA IACTA EST".