F$ELEMENT()

F$ELEMENT() is a lexical function that extracts one element from a string of elements. It can be used, among other things, to emulate arrays in DCL.

Format

F$ELEMENT(element-number, delimiter, string)

Element numbers range from 0 to F$LENGTH(string). Delimiter is the character used to delimit the elements in the string. For example, in "JAN/MAR/APR/MAY", the delimiter is "/", and in "John Doe", the delimiter is " ". String is the string containing the element.

If the selected element does not exist in the string, the delimiter character is returned.

Example

$ DAY_LIST = "MON/TUE/WED/THU/FRI/SAT/SUN"

$ MONDAY = F$ELEMENT(0,"/",DAY_LIST)
$ SHOW SYM MONDAY
   MONDAY = "MON"

$ EIGHTH_DAY = F$ELEMENT(7,"/",DAY_LIST) !non-existent element
$ SHOW SYM EIGHTH_DAY
   EIGHTH_DAY = "/"
 

See also

• F$EDIT()
• F$LOCATE()
• F$EXTRACT()
• F$MATCH_WILD()