StringHandling routine

The StringHandling routine contains several functions which allow you to carry out various kinds of operations and tests on alphanumeric expressions, based on Java methods.

You can access these functions by double-clicking the StringHandling node under the system routines folder in the Repository tree view.

Functions of the StringHandling routine
Function	Description	Syntax
ALPHA	Checks whether the expression is arranged in alphabetical order. Returns the true or false boolean accordingly.	StringHandling.ALPHA("string to be checked")
IS_ALPHA	Checks whether the expression contains alphabetical characters only, or otherwise. Returns the true or false boolean accordingly.	StringHandling.IS_ALPHA("string to be checked")
CHANGE	Replaces an element of a string with a defined replacement element and returns the new string.	StringHandling.CHANGE("string to be checked", "string to be replaced","replacement string")
COUNT	Returns the number of times a substring occurs within a string.	StringHandling.COUNT("string to be checked", "substring to be counted")
DOWNCASE	Converts all uppercase letters in an expression into lowercase and returns the new string.	StringHandling.DOWNCASE("string to be converted")
UPCASE	Converts all lowercase letters in an expression into uppercase and returns the new string.	StringHandling.UPCASE("string to be converted")
DQUOTE	Encloses an expression in double quotation marks.	StringHandling.DQUOTE("string to be enclosed in double quotation marks")
EREPLACE	Substitutes all substrings that match the given regular expression in the given old string with the given replacement and returns a new string.	StringHandling.EREPLACE(oldStr, regex, replacement)
INDEX	Returns the position of the first character in a specified substring, within a whole string. If the substring specified does not exist in the whole string, the value -1 is returned.	StringHandling.INDEX("string to be checked", "substring specified")
LEFT	Specifies a substring which corresponds to the first n characters in a string.	StringHandling.LEFT("string to be checked", number of characters)
RIGHT	Specifies a substring which corresponds to the last n characters in a string.	StringHandling.RIGHT("string to be checked", number of characters)
LEN	Calculates the length of a string.	StringHandling.LEN("string to check")
SPACE	Generates a string consisting of a specified number of blank spaces.	StringHandling.SPACE(number of blank spaces to be generated)
SQUOTE	Encloses an expression in single quotation marks.	StringHandling.SQUOTE("string to be enclosed in single quotation marks")
STR	Generates a particular character a the number of times specified.	StringHandling.STR('character to be generated', number of times)
TRIM	Deletes the spaces and tabs before the first non-blank character in a string and after the last non-blank character, then returns the new string.	StringHandling.TRIM("string to be checked")
BTRIM	Deletes all the spaces and tabs after the last non-blank character in a string and returns the new string.	StringHandling.BTRIM("string to be checked")
FTRIM	Deletes all the spaces and tabs preceding the first non-blank character in a string.	StringHandling.FTRIM("string to be checked")
SUBSTR	Returns a portion of a string. It counts all characters, including blanks, starting at the beginning of the string.	StringHandling.SUBSTR(string, start, length) string: the character string you want to search. start: the position in the string where you want to start counting. length: the number of characters you want to return.
LTRIM	Removes blanks or characters from the beginning of a string.	StringHandling.LTRIM(string[, trim_set]) string: the string you want to change. trim_set: the characters you want to remove from the beginning of the string. LTRIM will compare the trim_set to the string character-by-character, starting with the left side of the string, and remove characters until it fails to find a matching character in the trim_set. If this parameter is not specified, LTRIM will remove any blanks from the beginning of the string.
RTRIM	Removes blanks or characters from the end of a string.	StringHandling.RTRIM(string[, trim_set]) string: the string you want to change. trim_set: the characters you want to remove from the ending of the string. RTRIM will compare the trim_set to the string character-by-character, starting with the right side of the string, and remove characters until it fails to find a matching character in the trim_set. If this parameter is not specified, RTRIM will remove any blanks from the ending of the string.
LPAD	Converts a string to a specified length by adding blanks or characters to the beginning of the string.	StringHandling.LPAD(first_string, length[, second_string]) first_string: the string you want to change. length: the length you want the string to be after being padded. second_string: the characters you want to append to the left side of the first_string.
RPAD	Converts a string to a specified length by adding blanks or characters to the end of the string.	StringHandling.RPAD(first_string, length[, second_string]) first_string: the string you want to change. length: the length you want the string to be after being padded. second_string: the characters you want to append to the right side of the first_string.
INSTR	Returns the position of a character set in a string, counting from left to right and starting from 1. Note that it returns 0 if the search is unsuccessful and NULL if the search value is NULL.	StringHandling.INSTR(string, search_value, start, occurrence) string: the string you want to search. search_value: the set of characters you want to search for. start: the position in the string where you want to start the search. The default is 1, meaning it starts the search from the first character in the string. occurrence: the occurrence you want to search for. For example, StringHandling.INSTR("Talend Technology", "e", 3, 2), it will start the search from the third character l and return 7, the position of the second character e.
INSTR	Returns the position of a byte set in a string, counting from left to right and starting from 1. Note that it returns 0 if the search is unsuccessful and NULL if the search value is NULL.	StringHandling.INSTR(byte[] string, byte[] search_value, start, occurrence) string: the string you want to search. search_value: the set of characters you want to search for. start: the position in the string where you want to start the search. The default is 1, meaning it starts the search from the first character in the string. occurrence: the occurrence you want to search for.
TO_CHAR	Converts numeric values to text strings.	StringHandling.TO_CHAR(numeric_value)

Storing a string in alphabetical order

It is easy to use the ALPHA routine along with a tJava component, to check whether a string is in alphabetical order:

System.out.println(StringHandling.ALPHA("abcdefg"));

The check returns a boolean value.

Checking whether a string is alphabetical

It is easy to use the IS_ALPHA routine along with a tJava component, to check whether the string is alphabetical:

System.out.println(StringHandling.IS_ALPHA("ab33cd"));

The check returns a boolean value.

Replacing an element in a string

It is easy to use the CHANGE routine along with a tJava component, to replace one element in a string with another:

System.out.println(StringHandling.CHANGE("hello world!", "world", "guy"));

The routine replaces the old element with the new element specified.

The result is "hello guy!" in the Run view.

Checking the position of a specific character or substring, within a string

The INDEX routine is easy to use along with a tJava component, to check whether a string contains a specified character or substring:

System.out.println(StringHandling.INDEX("hello world!", "hello"));
                              System.out.println(StringHandling.INDEX("hello world!", "world")); 
                              System.out.println(StringHandling.INDEX("hello world!", "!")); 
                              System.out.println(StringHandling.INDEX("hello world", "?"));

The routine returns a whole number which indicates the position of the first character specified, or indeed the first character of the substring specified. Otherwise, -1 is returned if no occurrences are found.

The result is 0, 6, 11, and -1 in the Run view.

Calculating the length of a string

The LEN routine is easy to use, along with a tJava component, to check the length of a string:

System.out.println(StringHandling.LEN("hello world!"));

The check returns a whole number which indicates the length of the chain, including spaces and blank characters.

Deleting blank characters

The FTRIM routine is easy to use, along with a tJava component, to delete blank characters from the start of a string:

System.out.println(StringHandling.FTRIM("  Hello world  !"));

The routine returns the string with the blank characters removed from the beginning.

The result is "Hello world !" in the Run view.

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