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Replace

Description

Replaces a portion of one string with another.

Syntax

Replace ( string1, start, n, string2 )

Argument

Description

string1

The string in which you want to replace characters with string2.

start

A long whose value is the number of the first character you want replaced. (The first character in the string is number 1.)

n

A long whose value is the number of characters you want to replace.

string2

The string that will replace characters in string1. The number of characters in string2 can be greater than, equal to, or less than the number of characters you are replacing.


Return value

String. Returns the string with the characters replaced if it succeeds and the empty string if it fails. If any argument's value is null, Replace returns null.

Usage

If the start position is beyond the end of the string, Replace appends string2 to string1. If there are fewer characters after the start position than specified in n, Replace replaces all the characters to the right of character start.

If n is zero, then, in effect, Replace inserts string2 into string1.

Examples

These statements change the value of Name from Davis to Dave:

string Name
Name = "Davis"
Name = Replace(Name, 4, 2, "e")

This statement returns BABY RUTH:

Replace("BABE RUTH", 1, 4, "BABY")

This statement returns Closed for the Winter:

Replace("Closed for Vacation", 12, 8, "the Winter")

This statement returns ABZZZZEF:

Replace("ABCDEF", 3, 2, "ZZZZ")

This statement returns ABZZZZ:

Replace("ABCDEF", 3, 50, "ZZZZ")

This statement returns ABCDEFZZZZ:

Replace("ABCDEF", 50, 3, "ZZZZ")

These statements replace all occurrences of red within the string mystring with green. The original string is taken from the SingleLineEdit sle_1 and the result becomes the new text of sle_1: 

long start_pos=1
string old_str, new_str, mystring
 
mystring = sle_1.Text
old_str = "red"
new_str = "green"
 
// Find the first occurrence of old_str.
start_pos = Pos(mystring, old_str, start_pos)
 
// Only enter the loop if you find old_str.
DO WHILE start_pos > 0
 
    // Replace old_str with new_str.
    mystring = Replace(mystring, start_pos, &
      Len(old_str), new_str)
    // Find the next occurrence of old_str.
    start_pos = Pos(mystring, old_str, &
      start_pos+Len(new_str))
LOOP
sle_1.Text = mystring

See also

Replace method for DataWindows in the section called “Replace” in DataWindow Reference.

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