String functions

This section presents all functions that process or analyze strings.

String processing

The following functions process one or more strings and return a new string as a result:

Uppercase/ lowercase	UPPER-CASE( )	Changes lowercase letters to uppercase
	LOWER-CASE( )	Changes uppercase letters to lowercase
String length	FILL( )	Lengthens a string with fill characters
	TRIM( )	Removes repeated characters at the beginning or end of a string
Substring	SUBSTRING( )	Returns a specific substring
	REPLACE( )	Replaces a specific substring
SDF list	EXTEND-SDF-LIST( )	Appends a new element to an SDF list
New name	RENAME( )	Gives a new name to the specified string; wildcards may be used
Field extraction	EXTRACT-FIELD( )	Extracts a field from a string

String analysis

The following functions analyze a specified string:

Initial position	INDEX( )	Searches for the position of a substring within a full string
String length	LENGTH( )	Determines the length of a string
Character search	VERIFY( )	Checks whether particular characters are contained in the specified string
Pattern	WILDCARD( )	Checks whether a string contains a particular pattern
C-Literal	IS-C-LITERAL( )	Checks whether a string is a C literal
X-Literal	IS-X-LITERAL( )	Checks whether a string is an X literal
Number	IS-INTEGER( )	Checks whether a string represents an integer (i.e. can be converted into an INTEGER value)
SDF structure	SDF-STRUCTURE- VALUE( )	Returns the value of an SDF structure as a string
	IS-SDF-STRUCTURE()	Checks whether a string is an SDF structure
SDF list	IS-SDF-LIST( )	Checks whether a string is an SDF list (an SDF list is a string that is interpreted in accordance with the rules for operand lists in commands)
	SUBLIST( )	Returns an element in an SDF list
	SUBLIST-NUMBER( )	Returns the number of elements in an SDF list
SDF data type	CHECK-DATA-TYPE( )	Checks whether a string satisfies the SDF data type requirements
List variable	SEARCH-LIST- INDEX( )	Searches a list variable for a string (including regular POSIX expression)

Name checking

The following function checks whether the specified string complies with the necessary naming conventions:

Variable name

IS-VARIABLE-NAME()

Functions for accessing variables

The functions presented in this section return as a return value a variable name, the contents of a variable or entries for building up a variable. They make it possible to process complex variables.

Complex variable	FIRST-VARIABLE-NAME( )	Returns the variable name of the first variable element
	NEXT-VARIABLE-NAME( )	Returns the variable name of the next variable element
Number of variable elements	SIZE( )	Returns the number of elements in a complex variable
Upper limit for list elements	LIMIT( )	Outputs the maximum number of elements that the specified list variable can contain
Value of an array index	ARRAY-INDEX( )	Returns the value of an array index, i.e. the array index that complies with the specified conditions

Variable attributes

Variable type	CURRENT-TYPE( )	Returns the current data type of a simple variable
Attribute occurrence	VARIABLE-ATTRIBUTE( )	Returns the value of the specified attribute
Variable declaration	IS-DECLARED( )	Checks whether a variable is declared
Initialization	IS-INITIALIZED( )	Checks whether a variable contains a valid value
Scope	LAYOUT-SCOPE( )	Returns the scope of a structure layout