B4A Library String Functions

Updated: 3/14/2014 - Version 1.05, This new version has 14 new functions/commands. Please report any issues. The new functions/commands are underlined and listed below in the updated docs.

Updated: 9/19/2013 - Version 1.04, Corrected an error in the Mid() function when retrieving the last character.

Updated: 8/28/2013 - Version 1.03, Added code to stop OutOfBounds error on the Mid Function. This would happen when an invalid index was passed to the function. Also corrected a bug that was in the DayOfMonth Function in versions prior to 1.02.

Updated: 4/5/2013 Added new date functions and a simple Encrypt and Decrypt Function. NOTE: A few older Functions were renamed.

StringFunctions use function names that are closer to the VB commands and may help beginners when they start programming in B4A. I wrote them for that reason when I started. These functions use to be in a code module but have now been converted to a Library. This has the new inline syntax and help as you start to type the command.

Requires B4A 2.5 or Higher
Copy the StringFunctions.jar and StringFunctions.xml to the Extra Libraries folder.

Be sure to DIM the Lib object like Below. You can use any variable name in place of sf in the Example below.

Sub Globals
   Dim sf As StringFunctions
   sf.Initialize
End Sub

StringFunctions Version 1.05

• AsciiCodes
  Displays a MessageBox with all Characters and their ASCII codes.
• AddSpaces (HowMany As Int) As String
  Returns a string of spaces. The number returned is set by HowMany.
• At (YourString As String, SearchFor As String))
  Returns the position of the SearchFor within YourString.
• CurrentWeek (MyDate As String) As Int
  Returns the number of the current week, 1-52 from the date passed to MyDate.
• DayOfMonth (MyDate As ) As Int
  Returns the day of the month like 1-31, from the date passed to MyDate.
• Decrypt (YourText As String) As String
  Converts an encrypted string of text to readable format, no key is needed.
• Empty (StringText As String) As Boolean
  Test to see if the string is empty and returns True if it is, otherwise returns False.
• Encrypt (YourText As String) As String
  Converts a string of text to simple encryption, no Key is needed.
• EraseData
  This will erase all data saved with the SaveData function stored in the
  temporary vault.
• FileExist (PathAndFileName As String) As Boolean
  Returns True if the filename passed does exist, otherwise returns False.
  Be sure to include the path like:
  If FileExist("/mnt/sdcard/mydata.dat") Then MsgBox("Yes", "The Answer")
• GetData (Key As Object) As Object
  Gets data from the temporary vault.
  EditText1.Text = SF.GetData("EnteredName")
  The Key is case sensitive.
• InString (YourString As String, SearchFor As String))
  Returns the position of the SearchFor within YourString.
• IsEmpty (StringText As String) As Boolean
  Test to see if the string is empty and returns True if it is, otherwise returns False.
• Left (StringText As String, Length As Long) As String
  Returns the Left portion of a string with the number of characters passed
  in Length.
• Len (StringText As String) As Long
  Returns the length of the string.
• ListToString (YourList As List, Sorted As Boolean, Ascending As Boolean) As String
  Converts a List object to a String.
• ListToStringArray (YourList As List, Sorted As Boolean, Ascending As Boolean) As String()
  Converts a List object to a String Array.
• Lower (StringText As String) As String
  Returns the string converted to Lowercase characters.
• Ltrim (StringText As String) As String
  Returns a new string with the leading spaces removed.
• MB (Message As String)
  Same as MsgBox but only needs one parameter.
• Mid (StringText As String, Start As Int, Length As Int) As String
  Returns the a new String for how ever many characters passed in Length from
  a starting position passed in Start.
  Example:
  Mid("This is a long line of text", 5, 2)
  In this example the function will Return: "is"
• MidExtract (StringText As String, Start As String, EndAt As String) As String
  Used to extract text from a string between to other blocks of text.
  Ans = MidExtract("Dr. Jim Joe Brown", "Jim", "Brown") 'Returns: Joe
  Ans = MidExtract("Dr. Jim [Joe] Brown", "[", "]") 'Returns: Joe
• MidS (StringText As String, StartAt As Int) As String
  Works like the Mid$ function in Visual Basic.
• Month (MyDate As String) As Int
  Returns the number of the current month 1-12 as Int type, from the date passed to MyDate.
• MonthName (MyDate As String) As String
  Returns the Name the current month as a String like January, etc., from the date passed to MyDate.
• NewDate (DatePassed As String, HowManyDays As Int) As String
  Returns a new date adding or subtracting HowManyDays. HowManyDays can be positive or
  negative numbers.
• NumOfDaysBetween (CurrentDate As String, OtherDate As String) As Int
  Returns the numbers of days passed between the two dates passed.
• Pad (Text As String, PadWith As String, Length As Int, Post As Boolean) As String
  Used to pad a string with a selected character. If Post = True the padding will follow
  any text in the string, if Post = False, the padding will be before the text. Length is
  the total length for the padded string. PadWith is the selected character to use for the
  padding.
  SF.Pad("Jimmy Joe", "*", 20, True) 'Returns "Jimmy Joe***********"
• Proper (StringText As String) As String
  Returns the string in proper format.
  Example:
  MyText = "jim joe brown"
  MyText = SF.Proper(Mytext)
  This function will return: "Jim Joe Brown"
• Replicate (mChar As String, Times As Int) As String
  Repeats any character passed, a selected number of Times.
• Right (StringText As String, Length As Long) As String
  Returns the Right portion of a string with the number of characters passed
  in Length.
• RndChrGen (StringLength As Int, CharacterType As Int) As String
  Returns a string of ramdom characters with a length specified by StringLength. CharacterType tells
  the function what type of characters to return.
  CharacterType = 0 for Upper and Lower case
  CharacterType = 1 for Upper case only
  CharacterType = 2 for Lower case only
• Rtrim (StringText As String) As String
  Returns a new string with the trailing spaces removed.
• SaveData (Key As Object, Data As Object)
  Save data passed in a temporary file.
  SF.SaveData("ScreenTitle", MyVar)
  or
  SF.SaveData("EnteredName", EditText1.Text)
• ScrInfo ( As Pect) As Int
  Returns information about the devices screen. You can pass these parameters:
  Pass "W" for Width
  Pass "H" for Height
  Pass "S" for Scale
  Pass "D" for DPI
  Call like: SF.ScrInfo("W")
• SearchDate (Date1 As String, Date2 As String, DateRange As Int) As Boolean
  Returns True if the Date1 and the Date2 are within x Days(DateRange) of each other.
  Pass the dates as Strings.
  Example:
  SearchDate("03/01/2013", "02/15/2013", 30)
• Split (CurrentString As String, Split_At_Delimiter As String) As List
  Returns a LIST of items from the string split at the Delimiter.
  EXAMPLE:
  Dim ANS As List
  ANS = SF.Split("This is a test string.", " ")
• SplitGetWord (CurrentString As String, Split_At_Delimiter As String, GetElement As Int) As String
  Returns just the one element selected with GetElement from the string.
  EXAMPLE:
  ANS = SF.SplitGetWord("This is a test string.", " ", 2)
  In this example the function will Return: "is"
• StrArraySort (StringArray() As String, Ascending As Boolean) As String()
  Used to sort a String Array. Sort will be in Ascending order if Ascending = True.
• StringArrayToList (StringArray() As String, Sorted As Boolean, Ascending As Boolean) As List
  Converts a String Array to a List object.
• StringToList (StringText As String, Sorted As Boolean, Ascending As Boolean) As List
  Convert a String to a List object. This will split the string between words.
• Stuff (CurrentText As String, InsertInString As String, RemoveFromString As String) As String
  Used to replace text in a string with new text.
  Example:
  MyText = "I will tell you that joe is a good friend!"
  MyText = SF.Stuff(MyText, "Joe Brown", "joe")
  This function will return: "I will tell you that Joe Brown is a good friend!"
• Today () As String
  Returns the devices date.
• Trim (Text As String) As String
  Returns a new string with leading and trailing spaces removed.
• Upper (StringText As String) As String
  Returns the string converted to Uppercase characters.
• Val (StringText As String) As Double
  Returns the numerical value of a string. If the string contains now value it returns 0.
• ValidDate (ChkDate As ) As Boolean
  Returns True if the date passed is a Valid date.
• WeekDay (MyDate As String) As String
  Returns the number of the day of the week 1-7 as a String, from the date passed to MyDate.
• WeekName (MyDate As String) As String
  Returns the name of the day of the week like Sunday, Monday, etc., from the date passed to MyDate.
• Year (MyDate As String) As String
  Returns the year of the date passed in MyDate.
  Example:
  SF.Year("01/01/2013") returns "2013"
• getSDCardPath () As String
  Returns external/physical SD Card directory. This function may not return the correct store
  on an Android OS above 4.1. This is due to changes made to the OS system in the newer versions.
  Returns "", if the store can not be read.
• iif (Value1 As String, Value2 As String, Value3 As String) As String
  This is a single line if conditional test. If Value1 is true, Value2 is returned, otherwise
  Value3 will be returned. Works with strings and booleans.
  Example:
  MsgBox(iif("Bob"="Jim", "They are the same", "They are not the same"), "The Answer")
  or
  MyBoolean = iif(FirstTime = True, StartMyService = True, StartMyService = False)

 

[joedarock]

Thank you, Margret! Very useful!

Joe

 

[margret]

String Functions Update

Thank you, Margret! Very useful!

Joe

Hello and thank you. The first post and attachment has been updated. There are two new functions added. I added s.Empty() and s.iif(). The s.iif() is an Immediate If function. Can be very useful.

Thanks,

Margret

 

[margret]

String Functions Demo

Just Added These Three New Functions: July 28th, 2011 - 12.27am

s.Space()
s.RndChrGen() - Generate random characters to fill Edit.Text, etc.
s.Exist()

The updated file is attached to the first post.

Thanks,

Margret

 

[domcoz]

Split function

Hi I am new user for basic4android exits split function like vba ?

thanks very much

Domenico

 

[margret]

Split function

Hi I am new user for basic4android exits split function like vba ?

thanks very much

Domenico

As far as I know it does not at this time. I will add that to my list of things to add to the string functions.

Thanks,

Margret

 

[moster67]

there is a split function using RegEx:

Basic4android - Regular Expressions (Core)

 

[margret]

Information Update

Hello all,

For anyone using the string functions, if you found them useful you might also want to check out this other group of database functions:

http://www.b4x.com/forum/basic4android-getting-started-tutorials/10553-new-easy-use-database-functions-v1-0-samples.html

Thanks,

Margret

 

[Smee]

This all helps new android programmers Margret.

Thanks
:sign0098:

Joe

 

[margret]

String Functions Update

Hello All,

*** Just Added These Three New Functions: August 25th, 2011 - 1.10pm

s.Proper() – Example: converts “jerry smith” to “Jerry Smith”
s.Lower()
s.Upper()

Download is attached to post #1

Thanks,

Margret

 

[cnicolapc]

Woao!
I was waiting to thank you very much.
Nicola

 

[JesseW]

Nice collection

But I have a question: the Empty function...

 Sub Empty(Text As String) As String
   text = Trim(text)
   If text.Length < 1 Then
      Return True
   Else
      Return False
   End If   
End Sub

Since the function returns either TRUE or FALSE, shouldn't the sub definition be like this?

Sub Empty(Text As String) As Boolean

Also, its a matter of personal preference, but most programmers will prefix boolean functions with 'is', which would make isEmpty.

Keep up the good work!

 

[margret]

Function Definition

Nice collection
Since the function returns either TRUE or FALSE, shouldn't the sub definition be like this?

Sub Empty(Text As String) As Boolean

Keep up the good work!

Thanks Jesse,

I changed the definition to Boolean. It does work just fine but should of been Boolean. Good Catch!! :BangHead:

Margret

 

[JesseW]

Thanks Jesse,

I changed the definition to Boolean. It does work just fine but should of been Boolean. Good Catch!! :BangHead:

Margret

I sent you a PM...

 

[margret]

Over Sight on Definitions

I sent you a PM...

Thanks Jesse for pointing out the corrections in the definitions. It has been corrected and is now attached to post #1.

Thanks,

Margret

 

[rbsoft]

Thanks Margret,

brings back a little more the VB/PB feeling. After all these function names are fixed in our minds for many years.

I was just wondering about the Upper and Lower funtions. They remind me of the DBase and Clipper days. In Basic they were usually named UCase and LCase. I remember that I got them confused quite often in my QuickBasic and Dbase programs.

Great job!

Rolf

 

[margret]

Function Names

Thanks Margret,

brings back a little more the VB/PB feeling. After all these function names are fixed in our minds for many years.

I was just wondering about the Upper and Lower funtions. They remind me of the DBase and Clipper days. In Basic they were usually named UCase and LCase. I remember that I got them confused quite often in my QuickBasic and Dbase programs.

Great job!

Rolf

I think you are right. I did the same with the Dbase & vb.

Margret

 

[SPLatMan]

Nice work, Margret. Helps ease an old VB-er into B4A, alias Jasic. I found it looking for a "solution" to space$() or string$().

David Stonier-Gibson
Samsung Galaxy ACE, 2.3.4
http://splatco.com

 

[spillermarco]

String to bin

there is the function string to bin?

thanks

Marco

 

[rbsoft]

Hi Margret,

Not string to bin, but here is a vb like Split function you might want to add to your string functions.

Sub Split(str As String, Delimiter As String)As List 
   Dim t As List 
   t = Regex.Split(Delimiter, str)
   Return t
End Sub

To call it one can use something like this:

Sub Button1_Click
   Dim a As List 
   a = s.Split("Arthur,Ford,Zaphod", ",")
   For i = 0 To a.Size - 1
      listview1.AddSingleLine(a.Get(i))
   Next
End Sub

Rolf