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STUFF()
Delete and insert characters in a string
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Syntax
STUFF(<cString>, <nStart>,
<nDelete>, <cInsert>) --> cNewString
Arguments
<cString> is the target character string into which characters are
inserted and deleted.
<nStart> is the starting position in the target string where the
insertion/deletion occurs.
<nDelete> is the number of characters to be deleted.
<cInsert> is the string to be inserted.
Returns
STUFF() returns a copy of <cString> with the specified characters
deleted and with <cInsert> inserted.
Description
STUFF() is a character function that deletes <nDelete> characters from
<cString> beginning at the <nStart> position. Then, it inserts
<cInsert> into the resulting string beginning at <nStart> to form the
return string. With this, STUFF() can perform the following six
operations:
. Insert: If <nDelete> is zero, no characters are removed from
<cString>. <cInsert> is then inserted at <nStart>, and the entire
string is returned. For example, STUFF("My dog has fleas.", 12, 0,
"no" ) returns "My dog has no fleas."
. Replace: If <cInsert> is the same length as <nDelete>,
<cInsert> replaces characters beginning at <nStart>. The same number
of characters are deleted as are inserted, and the resulting string
is the same length as the original. For example, STUFF("My dog has
fleas.", 12, 5, "bones") returns "My dog has bones."
. Delete: If <cInsert> is a null string (""), the number of
characters specified by <nDelete> are removed from <cString>, and the
string is returned without any added characters. For example,
STUFF("My dog has fleas.", 1, 3, "") returns "dog has fleas."
. Replace and insert: If <cInsert> is longer than <nDelete>, all
characters from <nStart> up to <nDelete> are replaced and the rest of
<cInsert> is inserted. Since more characters are inserted than are
deleted, the resulting string is always longer than the original.
For example, STUFF("My dog has fleas.", 8, 3, "does not have")
returns "My dog does not have fleas."
. Replace and delete: If the length of <cInsert> is less than
<nDelete>, more characters are deleted than inserted. The resulting
string, therefore, is shorter than the original. For example,
STUFF("My dog has fleas.", 8, 3, "is") returns "My dog is fleas."
. Replace and delete rest: If <nDelete> is greater than or equal
to the number of characters remaining in <cString> beginning with
<nStart>, all remaining characters are deleted before <cInsert> is
inserted. For example, STUFF("My dog has fleas.", 8, 10, "is.")
returns "My dog is."
Examples
. These examples demonstrate the six basic operations of
STUFF():
// Insert
? STUFF("ABCDEF", 2, 0, "xyz") // Result: AxyzBCDEF
// Replace
? STUFF("ABCDEF", 2, 3, "xyz") // Result: AxyzEF
// Delete
? STUFF("ABCDEF", 2, 2, "") // Result: ADEF
// Replace and insert
? STUFF("ABCDEF", 2, 1, "xyz") // Result: AxyzCDEF
// Replace and delete
? STUFF("ABCDEF", 2, 4, "xyz") // Result: AxyzF
// Replace and delete rest
? STUFF("ABCDEF", 2, 10, "xyz") // Result: Axyz
Files Library is EXTEND.LIB, source file is SOURCE\SAMPLE\STUFF.C.
See Also:
RAT()
RIGHT()
STRTRAN()
SUBSTR()
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