[<<Previous Entry] [^^Up^^] [Next Entry>>] [Menu] [About The Guide]
 EXPAND()
 Expands a string by inserting characters
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Syntax

     EXPAND(<cString>,[<nNumber>],[<cCharacter|    nCharacter>])
        --> cString

 Arguments

     <cString>  Designates the string that is processed.

     <nNumber>  Designates the number of the <cCharacter|nCharacter>
     characters that are inserted between each character in the <cString>.
     The default value is one character.

     <cCharacter|nCharacter>  Designates the character that is inserted
     between each character in <cString>.  The default value is a space,
     CHR(32).

 Returns

     The processed <cString> is returned.

 Description

     EXPAND() can be used to justify text output, although the text is stored
     normally.  This saves memory capacity with text constants or in
     databases.

 Notes

     .  Expansion only takes place when the <cString> contains at
        least two characters.

     .  To fill out a character string at the ends, use the PADLEFT()
        and PADRIGHT() functions.

 Examples

     .  Use the default value and expand with one space:

        ? EXPAND("123456")               // "1 2 3 4 5 6"

     .  Expand with two spaces:

        ? EXPAND("123456", 2)            // "1  2  3  4  5  6"

     .  Expand with a ".":

        ? EXPAND("123456", ".")          // "1.2.3.4.5.6"

     .  Expand with two "."s:

        ? EXPAND("123456", 2, ".")       // "1..2..3..4..5..6"


See Also: CHARSPREAD() PADLEFT() PADRIGHT()
This page created by ng2html v1.05, the Norton guide to HTML conversion utility. Written by Dave Pearson