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SubField - script and chart function

SubField() is used to extract substring components from a parent string field, where the original record fields consist of two or more parts separated by a delimiter.

The Subfield() function can be used, for example, to extract first name and surname from a list of records consisting of full names, the component parts of a path name, or for extracting data from comma-separated tables.

If you use the Subfield() function in a LOAD statement with the optional field_no parameter left out, one full record will be generated for each substring. If several fields are loaded using Subfield() the Cartesian products of all combinations are created.

Syntax:  

SubField(text, delimiter[, field_no ])

Return data type: string

Arguments:  

Argument Description
text The original string. This can be a hard-coded text, a variable, a dollar-sign expansion, or another expression.
delimiter A character within the input text that divides the string into component parts.
field_no The optional third argument is an integer that specifies which of the substrings of the parent string text is to be returned. Use the value 1 to return the first substring, 2 to return the second substring, and so on. A negative value causes the substring to be extracted from the right-hand side of the string. That is, the string search is from right to left, instead of left to right, if field_no is a positive value.
Tip note SubField() can be used instead of using complex combinations of functions such as Len(), Right(), Left(), Mid(), and other string functions.

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