The text functions allow you to manipulate text strings in various ways, such as conversions to other data types, formatting and searching. Note that to quickly concatenate (join) two or more strings, you can use the + (plus) or & (ampersand) Operators. See the document on Data Types for information on how strings are converted to numbers (and vice-versa) as required automatically.

Asc
Returns the ASCII code for a specified character
Syntax	Asc (char)
Inputs	Char is a string with a single character in it. If it has more than one, the first character is used
Notes	Code and this function is the exact opposite of Char
Examples	Asc ("Q") = 81
See Also	Char

Char
Returns the character with the specified ASCII code
Syntax	Char (code)
Inputs	Code is an ASCII code between 0 and 255. If code is more than 255, code mod 256 is used
Notes	Chr and this function is the exact opposite of Asc
Examples	Char (81) = "Q"
See Also	Asc

Concatenate
Joins two or more strings together and returns the resulting string
Syntax	Concatenate (string1, string2, ...)
Inputs	String1, string2, ... are the strings (or any expressions that evaluate to strings) to be joined, you can provide several
Notes	A simpler way to concatenate strings is to use the & (ampersand) or + (plus) operators, eg "string1" & "string2"
Examples	Concatenate ("built", " using ", "concatenate") = "built using concatenate"

Dollar
Returns an expression formatted as a dollar amount
Syntax	Dollar (val)
Inputs	Val is any numerical value
Examples	Dollar (5 * 3) = $15.00
See Also	DollarNoUnit

DollarNoUnit
Returns an expression formatted as a dollar amount without the $ (dollar sign)
Syntax	DollarNoUnit (val)
Inputs	Val is any numerical value
Examples	DollarNoUnit ("3 + 2") = 5.00
See Also	Dollar

Exact
Compares two values as strings
Syntax	Exact (string1, string2)
Inputs	String1, string2 are the two text strings to compare
Outputs	Returns Yes if both values are exactly the same, No otherwise
Notes	This function is case sensitive
Examples	Exact ("a string", "A String") = No

Field
Extracts a particular substring from a separated string
Syntax	Field (string, index, separator)
Inputs	String is a list of strings separated by a certain character. Index is the position of the desired substring within string. separator is optional, and is a single character which separates the substrings. The default is | (pipe)
Notes	If index is out of range, an empty string is returned
Examples	Field ("red|green|blue", 2) = "green" Field ("$34.20;45mm;340mm;2.5hr", 3, ";") = 340mm
See Also	FieldCount

FieldCount
Calculates the number of fields in a separated string
Syntax	FieldCount (string, separator)
Inputs	String is a list of strings separated by a certain character, separator. If separator is omitted, the default of | (pipe) is used
Notes	If separator is not found in string, the result is 1 (unless string is empty)
Examples	FieldCount ("red|green|blue") = 3 FieldCount ("$34.20;45mm;340mm;2.5hr", ";") = 4
See Also	Field

Find
Locates a specified substring within a given string
Syntax	Find (target, source, start)
Inputs	Target is a string which is looked for within the source string. If the optional parameter start is provided, the function will start looking at that position
Outputs	The position in source where target was found, or 0 if it is not found
Notes	Find is case-sensitive
Examples	Find ("is", "This is a string") = 3 Find ("is", "This is a string", 4) = 6
See Also	InStr, Search

FindOneOf
Searches a string for one of a set of characters
Syntax	FindOneOf (chars, source, start)
Inputs	Chars is a list of characters as a string, which is looked for within the source string. If the optional parameter start is provided, the function will start looking at that position
Outputs	The position in source where one of the characters in chars was found, or 0 if none of them are found
Examples	FindOneOf ("rh", "This is a string") = 2 FindOneOf ("rh", "This is a string", 5) = 13

InStr
Locates a specified substring within a given string
Syntax	InStr (start, source, target)
Inputs	Target is a string which is looked for within the source string. If the optional parameter start is provided, the function will start looking at that position
Outputs	The position in source where target was found, or 0 if it is not found
Notes	This function operates exactly the same as Find, except with the parameters in a different order
Examples	InStr ("This is a string", "is") = 3 InStr (4, "This is a string", "is") = 6
See Also	Find, Search

LCase
Converts a given string to lower case
Syntax	LCase (string)
Inputs	String is what needs to be converted to lower case
Notes	Lower has the same functionality. Any characters that are not upper-case letters are not affected
Examples	LCase ("This Is A String") = "this is a string"
See Also	UCase, LowerNoCvt, UpperNoCvt

Left
Returns a certain number of characters from the start of a string
Syntax	Left (string, count)
Inputs	String is what to get the left hand characters of. Count is optional, and determines how many characters to return (default is 1)
Notes	If count is more than the length of string, the whole string is returned
Examples	Left ("This is a string") = "T" Left ("This is a string", 6) = "This i"
See Also	Mid, Right

Len
Returns the length of a string
Syntax	Len (string)
Inputs	String is what to find the length of
Notes	The result includes spaces and all other characters
Examples	Len ("This is a string") = 16 Len (Empty) = 0

Length
Converts a specific value to a length in the current units
Syntax	Length (value, precision)
Inputs	Value is any expression which gives a numerical result. Precision is optional, and is the number of decimal places (if positive) or the largest denominator to use (if negative)
Outputs	The unit used on the returned value is that specified on the File Options dialog
Notes	If precision is included and is not negative, the result is rounded to that number of decimal places. Otherwise, the result is written with fractions, with precision as the largest denominator. See the examples for a demonstration. To find the length of a string, use the Len function instead
Examples	Assuming default units is set to mm: Length (4' + 8") = 1422.4mm Length (63mm, 3) = 63.000mm Length (4.128mm, -8) = 4 1/8mm
See Also	LengthNoUnit

LengthNoUnit
This is the same as the Length function but the units text is not added
Syntax	LengthNoUnit (value, precision)
Inputs	Value is any expression which gives a numerical result. Precision is optional, and is the number of decimal places (if positive) or the largest denominator to use (if negative)
Notes	See the notes on Length for information about precision
Examples	Assuming default units is set to mm: LengthNoUnit (4' + 8") = 1422.4 LengthNoUnit (87.321cm, -9) = 873 2/9
See Also	Length

LowerNoCvt
Converts a given string to lower case
Syntax	LowerNoCvt (string)
Inputs	String is what needs to be converted to lower case
Notes	Any value which is not a string (Such as a measurement) will not be effected. See the list of Data Types. Any characters that are not upper-case letters are not affected.
Examples	LowerNoCvt ("This Is A String") = "this is a string"
See Also	UpperNoCvt, LCase, UCase

LTrim
Removes all the white space from the start of a specified string
Syntax	LTrim (text)
Inputs	Text is the string to strip the white space from
Examples	LTrim ("    string with spaces    ") = "string with spaces    "
See Also	RTrim, Trim

Mid
Returns a certain number of characters from the middle of a string
Syntax	Mid (string, start, count)
Inputs	String is what to extract the substring from. Start is the position in the string where the substring begins. Count is optional, and determines how many characters to return. If it is omitted, the substring from start to the end of string is returned
Examples	Mid ("This is a string", 6, 8) = "is a str" Mid ("This is a string", 13) = "ring"
See Also	Left, Right

Replace
Inserts a new string in place of a specified substring
Syntax	Replace (string, start, count, newStr)
Inputs	String, start and count operate in exactly the same way as with the Mid function, and are used to specify the substring to be replaced. NewStr is the text that will be inserted in the place of the substring
Outputs	Returns a copy of the whole input string, except with a section of it replaced by newStr
Notes	As opposed to the third parameter in the Mid function, count is not optional. The length of newStr does not have to be equal to count, which means you could for example replace several characters with only one
Examples	Replace ("This is a string", 9, 1, "one example ") = "This is one example string")
See Also	Substitute

Rept
Repeats a string a specified number of times
Syntax	Rept (string, count)
Inputs	String is what will be repeated count times
Examples	Rept ("Xo", 4) = "XoXoXoXo"

Right
Returns a certain number of characters from the end of a string
Syntax	Right (string, count)
Inputs	String is what to get the right hand characters of. Count is optional, and determines how many characters to return (default is 1)
Notes	If count is more than the length of string, the whole string is returned
Examples	Right ("This is a string") = "g" Right ("This is a string", 5) = "tring"
See Also	Left, Mid

RTrim
Removes all the white space from the end of a specified string
Syntax	RTrim (text)
Inputs	Text is the string to strip the white space from
Examples	RTrim ("    string with spaces    ") = "    string with spaces"
See Also	LTrim, Trim

Search
Locates a specified substring within a given string
Syntax	Search (target, source, start)
Inputs	Target is a string which is looked for within the source string. If the optional parameter start is provided, the function will start looking at that position
Outputs	The position in source where target was found, or 0 if it is not found
Notes	Search is exactly the same as the Find function, except that it is case-insensitive (it doesn't distinguish between upper and lower case letters)
Examples	Search ("IS", "This is a string") = 3 Search ("Is", "This is a string", 4) = 6
See Also	Find, InStr

StringToArray
Converts a string of separated items into an array
Syntax	StringToArray (string, separator)
Inputs	String is a list of elements separated by a certain character or set of characters. Separator is optional, and is the string found between the elements. The default is "|" (the pipe character)
Notes	This function is effectively the opposite of ArrayToString
Examples	StringToArray ("$3.40 260mm $1.90", " ") = ["$3.40","260mm","$1.90"]
See Also	ArrayToString

Substitute
Replaces all occurrences of a substring with a specified string
Syntax	Substitute (string, oldStr, newStr, count)
Inputs	String is what to make the substitutions to. It is searched for all occurrences of oldStr which are replaced by newStr. Count is optional, and is the maximum number of replacements to make
Outputs	Returns a copy of the whole input string, with newStr substituted for any occurrences of oldStr
Notes	This function can be used for simple variable replacement in strings, as illustrated in the example. It is case-sensitive
Examples	Substitute ("Hello $name$", "$name$", "Joe") = "Hello Joe"
See Also	Replace

Text
Explicitly converts any value to a text string
Syntax	Text (value)
Inputs	Value is a variable of any type
Outputs	Converts values to the base unit, see TextNoUnit for details
Notes	Values are usually converted to strings automatically as required. A situation where the Text function would be useful is when joining variables of unknown type as strings
Examples	If X = 5 and Y = 3, then X + Y = 8, but Text (X) + Text (Y) = "53"
See Also	TextNoUnit

TextNoUnit
Converts a variable of any type to a string, but does not include any units
Syntax	TextNoUnit (value)
Inputs	Value is a variable of any type
Outputs	Values are converted to the base measurement first, eg all times convert to minutes, prices to dollars, and any length to your specified Length Units
Notes	See the notes on the Text function
Examples	TextNoUnit (75 cents) = 0.75 TextNoUnit (1.5 hours) = 90
See Also	Text

Trim
Removes all the white space from the start and end of a specified string
Syntax	Trim (text)
Inputs	Text is the string to strip the white space from
Examples	Trim ("    string with spaces    ") = "string with spaces"
See Also	LTrim, RTrim

UCase
Converts a given string to upper case
Syntax	UCase (string)
Inputs	String is what needs to be converted to upper case
Notes	Upper has the same functionality. Any characters that are not lower-case letters are not affected
Examples	UCase ("This Is A String") = "THIS IS A STRING"
See Also	LCase, UpperNoCvt, LowerNoCvt

UpperNoCvt
Converts a given string to upper case
Syntax	UpperNoCvt (string)
Inputs	String is what needs to be converted to upper case
Notes	Any value which is not a string (Such as a measurement) will not be effected. See the list of Data Types. Any characters that are not lower-case letters are not affected.
Examples	UpperNoCvt ("This Is A String") = "THIS IS A STRING" UpperNoCvt ("15mm") = "15mm"
See Also	UpperNoCvt, LCase, UCase

Value
Converts a string into a numerical value
Syntax	Value (text)
Inputs	Text is a string that contains a number
Outputs	Values are converted to a base unit, see TextNoUnit for details
Notes	If the string contains any text apart from units (eg "dollars") an error occurs
Examples	Value ("0.5 hours") = 30.00mn Value ("30 cents plus $4") = $4.30