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 select 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 = "/"
