EXTRACT Function

The EXTRACT function is used to access a specified attribute, value, or subvalue from a dynamic array string.

Format

EXTRACT(string , attr# [, value# [, subval#]])

string < attr# [, value# [, subval#]] >

Parameter(s)

string

Dynamic array string.

attr#

An expression evaluating to the attribute number.

value#

An expression evaluating to the value number. If value# is omitted, the entire contents of the attribute is returned.

subval#

An expression evaluating to the subvalue number. If subval# is omitted, the entire contents of the value is returned.

Description

The EXTRACT function returns a specified attribute, value, or subvalue of a string. There are two forms to the EXTRACT function: the first uses the keyword EXTRACT, and the second uses angle brackets.

If an attribute, value, or subvalue expression evaluates to a noninteger value, it is truncated to an integer value. If the attribute, value, and subvalue expressions each evaluate to a value less than 1, the null string is returned.

Example

To assign the variable ZIP to Attribute 6 of the string array ADDRESS, the code would read:

ZIP = EXTRACT(ADDRESS, 6)

or

ZIP = ADDRESS < 6 >

In the next application, a program prints the billing information for a customer. The first and second attributes of the record CUST.REC contain the customer’s name, and the sixth, seventh, and eighth attributes contain the customer’s billing information.

EQUATE BLANK TO " ", NIL TO ""

   .

   .

   .

NAME = CUST.REC< 1 > : BLANK

NAME := CUST.REC< 2 >

PRINT NAME

PRINT "CREDIT CARD: " , CUST.REC< 6 >

PRINT "ACCT. NO. :" , CUST.REC< 7 >

PRINT "EXPIRES:" , OCONV( CUST.REC< 8 >, "D" )

See Also

Statement and Function Reference