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XTOC()
Converts an expression of any data type into a string
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Syntax
XTOC(<expValue>) --> cValue
Argument
<expValue> Designates an expression of any desired data type.
Returns
XTOC() returns a character string version of the <expValue> parameter.
Description
At first glance, the XTOC() function does not appear to accomplish
anything that cannot be done with the other functions. However, the
advantage lies in the fact that you do not have to pay attention to the
input data types. For example, you can convert the data in every field
within a loop into a string. You could then link these into a longer
string and use them to index or for comparisons.
Each data type always returns a string with a particular fixed length:
Table 13-9: Resulting String
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data Type Result Length
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numeric 8
Logical 1
Date 8
String Unchanged
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note
. The index string cannot be longer than 256 characters.
Examples
. In the case of logical parameters, XTOC() works like LTOC():
? XTOC(.T.) // "T"
? XTOC(.F.) // "F"
. Numeric values always return an 8-byte string:
? XTOC(0) // Length 8
? XTOC(9.9) // Ditto
? XTOC(-9.9) // Ditto
? XTOC(99) // Ditto
? XTOC(-99) // Ditto
. A string returns the same string:
? XTOC("123ABCabc") // "123ABCabc"
. A date returns the ANSI date:
? XTOC(CTOD("12/31/99")) // "19991231"
? XTOC(CTOD("01/01/00") // "19000101"
. An empty or false date returns an empty string rather than a
null string:
? XTOC(CTOD(" / / ") // " "
? XTOC(CTOD("77/77/77") // " "
. Show a function where all the fields in a database are
combined into one string. This way, you can do a complete comparison
of the two data strings:
FUNCTION STRINGREC
PRIVATE nI, nFieldNo, cField, cStringRec
cStringRec := ""
nFieldNo := FCOUNT() // Number of fields
FOR nI = 1 to nFieldNo
cField := FIELD(nI) // Field name
cStringRec := cStringRec + XTOC(&cField)
NEXT nI
RETURN (cStringRec)
See Also:
CTOF()
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