String operators (+, CONCAT, SUBSTRING)
String operators are operators which parameters and result are the properties which values are instances of the string classes. The platform currently supports the following string operators:
| Operator | Name | Description | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
+, CONCAT | Concatenation | Takes two operands and returns a string obtained by concatenating the strings specified in the operands | 'a' + 'b' | 'ab' |
SUBSTRING | Substring | Takes three operands and returns a substring obtained from the string specified in the first operand, starting with the character specified in the second operand, and having length specified in the third operand | SUBSTRING('abc', 2, 2) | 'bc' |
The + and SUBSTRING operators return NULL if one of the operands is NULL. The CONCAT operator treats NULL value of the operand as an empty string (however, concatenation of two NULL values still returns NULL). Also, in the CONCAT operator you can optionally specify the third operand (delimiter) which will be inserted if and only if both operands are not NULL. For example, CONCAT ' ', 'John', 'Smith' = 'John Smith', but CONCAT ' ', 'John', NULL = 'John'.
Determining the result class
The result class is defined as:
| Operator | Description |
|---|---|
+, CONCAT | result = STRING[p1.blankPadded AND p2.blankPadded, p1.caseInsensitive OR p2.caseInsensitive, p1.length + p2.length] |
SUBSTRING(p, from, length) | result = STRING[p.blankPadded, p.caseInsensitive, length] |
where blankPadded, caseInsensitive and length are determined similarly to the rules for construction of a common ancestor for two built-in classes (Strings family).
In the + operator, operands which classes are other than string are cast to strings in accordance with the following table:
| Class | Cast class |
|---|---|
DATE, DATETIME, TIME | STRING[25] |
NUMERIC | STRING[p.length] |
LOGICAL | STRING[1] |
FILE | TEXT |
| Object | STRING[10] |
| Other | STRING[8] |
Examples
CLASS Person;
firstName = DATA STRING[100] (Person);
middleName = DATA STRING[100] (Person);
lastName = DATA STRING[100] (Person);
// if some part of the name is not specified, then this part will be skipped along with a space
fullName(Person p) = CONCAT ' ', firstName(p), middleName(p), lastName(p);