Re: quick 4lg question

John H. Frantz wrote in message <357DA803.B42E5932@rl.is>... >Dylan Tansey wrote: >> >> Is there an Informix function to remove leading spaces. I am looking for >> the opposite of "clipped". >> I searched all manuals but can't find anything useful. > >With compliments from the Power-4gl function library: > >function left(text) > >define > text,ctxt char(256), > i,j,k smallint >let ctxt = " " >let k = length(text) >let j = null >for i = 1 to k > if j is null then > if text[i,i] <> " " then let j = 1 > else continue for > end if > end if > let ctxt[j,j] = text[i,i] > let j = j + 1 >end for >return ctxt clipped > >end function Who wrote that function ? I think this is somewhat clearer and faster: function trim( str ) define str char( 500 ) define i,n smallint if str = ' ' or str is null then return str end if let i = 1 let n = length(str) while str[ i ] = ' ' let i = i + 1 end while return str[ i, n ] end function This function is also useful: # remove all spaces from a string function remove_spaces( wstr ) define wstr char( 500 ) define wstrx char( 500 ) define i, j, n smallint if wstr = ' ' or wstr is null then return str end if let j = 0 let n = length( wstr ) for i = 1 to n if wstr[ i ] <> ' ' then let j = j + 1 let wstrx[ j ] = wstr[ i ] end if end for return wstrx[ 1, j ] end function With compliments from the Minimal-4gl function library > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >John H. Frantz Power-4gl: Extending Informix-4gl >john@rl.is http://www.rl.is/~john/pow4gl.html Ciao Carlos. ---- Carlos Costa e Silva <ccs@minimal.pt> Minimal Lda Lisboa Portugal PS. If anyone is interested here are some functions from our string library: # String.4gl - auxiliary string functions # # developed by Minimal Lda - Lisbon, Portugal # define wordlist char(255) # used by ord() for performance reasons # returns TRUE if c (one character) exists in wstr # else returns FALSE function instr1( c, wstr ) define c char( 1 ) define wstr char( 512 ) define i, n smallint let n = length( wstr ) for i = 1 to n if wstr[ i ] = c then return TRUE end if end for return FALSE end function # returns the first position of c in wstr # 0 = not found function instrc( c, wstr ) define c char( 1 ) define wstr char( 512 ) define i, n smallint let n = length( wstr ) for i = 1 to n if wstr[ i ] = c then return i end if end for return 0 end function # returns the first position of c in wstr # counting from position wpos (included) # 0 = not found function instrcn( wpos, c, wstr ) define wpos smallint define c char( 1 ) define wstr char( 512 ) define i, n smallint let n = length( wstr ) for i = wpos to n if wstr[ i ] = c then return i end if end for return 0 end function # returns the first position of the string win in wstring # counting from wpos (included) # 0 = not found function instr( wpos, win, wstring ) define wpos smallint define win char( 20 ) define wstring char( 2048 ) define len_in, len_in1, len_str, i, n smallint let len_in = length( win ) let len_in1 = len_in - 1 let len_str = length( wstring ) if len_in = 0 then return 0 end if let n = len_str - len_in1 for i = wpos to n if win[ 1, len_in ] = wstring[ i, i + len_in1 ] then return i end if end for return 0 end function # returns the nth position of the string win in wstr # counting from position wpos (included) # 0 = not found function instring( wpos, win, wstring ) define wpos smallint define win char( 20 ) define wstring char( 512 ) define len_in, len_in1, len_str, i, n smallint let len_in = length( win ) let len_in1 = len_in - 1 let len_str = length( wstring ) if len_in = 0 then return 0 end if let n = len_str - len_in1 for i = 1 to n if win[ 1, len_in ] = wstring[ i, i + len_in1 ] then let wpos = wpos - 1 if wpos = 0 then return i end if end if end for return 0 end function # in_string() # breaks wstr in words # if n > 0 returns all text following the first space before n # if n < 0 returns all text up to the the first space before abs(n) # # in other words returns all text from the beginning of the word in position n # or all up to the word in position n function break_text( wstr, n ) define wstr char( 512 ) define i, n, m smallint if n > 0 then let m = n else let m = -n end if for i = m to 1 step -1 if wstr[ i ] = ' ' then exit for end if end for if n > 0 then let m = length( wstr ) if n >= m then return ' ' end if if i <= 1 then return wstr[ n + 1, m ] end if return wstr[ i + 1, m ] end if if i <= 1 then return wstr[ 1, m ] end if return wstr[ 1, i - 1 ] end function # partir() # break a string in words # equal to break_text with this modification: # if wstop exists in wstr, it breaks the text in wstop # always does left trim of the returned string. # # called with break_text1( '.', -12, 'abcd. efg hijkl') # returns 'abcd.' function break_text1( wstr, n, wstop ) define wstr char( 512 ) define wstop char( 20 ) define i, n, m smallint define wout char( 512 ) let wout = null if wstop <> ' ' then let i = instr( 1, wstop, wstr ) if i > 0 then if n > 0 then if i <= n then let m = i + length( wstop ) let wout = wstr[ m, 512 ] end if else let m = -n if i <= m then if i > 1 then let wout = wstr[ 1, i - 1 ] else let m = length( wstop ) + 1 let wout = wstr[ m, 512 ] end if end if end if end if end if if wout is null then let wout = break_text( wstr, n ) end if # left trim if wout <> ' ' and wout[ 1 ] = ' ' then let n = length( wout