Introduction
Text inside quotation marks allows practically all characters except the same single quotation mark symbol inside the text. If this is needed, you put the text inside double quotation marks instead.
Spaces
The text may contain any number of leading, trailing and inside spaces.
'Hello World' differs from 'Hello World'.
Uses
Plain text can be used for
- String values
- Variable names
- Table names
Rules
- Use single quotation marks (apostrophes) ' ... ' to enclose the text.
- Inside the quotation marks, all characters are fine, except the single quotation mark which delimits the text.
- All white spaces, including multiple consecutive spaces preserved.
- The text must fit on the same line.
- Exception: Use multi-line text using 3 consecutive quotation marks ''' (apostrophes) as delimiatersto formulate a text requiring multiple lines.
- Reserved keywords inside quotation marks are treated as text, e.g. 'true'.
- Various functions and comparisons support wildcard symbols, e.g. ABC = 'A*' returns true.
- Character entities like € or € for the EURO symbol € are supported. They are converted quasi at compile time to target characters.
- If the text is assigned to B4P variables or used inside expressions, then the variable assumes the type string and subtype softquoted string.
| Good Examples | Interpretation | Bad Examples | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 'Hello World' | Text | 'Hello World" | Delimits with wrong quotation mark |
| '123' | Text | '123 | Not properly delimited |
| ' Hello World ' | Text (2 spaces inside) | ||
| '' | Text (blank value) | ||
| '100 €' | Text (100 €) | 100 € | Syntax error: & abd ; are B4P symbols |
| '-' | Text | ||
| 'true' | Text | ||
| '"Hi!"' | Text, "Hi!" |
Examples
echo( 'Hello World' );
echo( ' Hello World ' );
echo( 'One + One' );
echo( '"In double quotation Marks"' );
echo( 'Price tags: € 10.00, € 10.00, € 10.00');
echo( '3 * 2 = 6' );
echo( 'A cheap way to continue on the next line' ); // Not recommended. Use '...', new line, '...' instead.
echo( new line, 'Line 1', new line, 'Line 2' ); Hello World
Hello World
One + One
"In double quotation Marks"
Price tags: € 10.00, € 10.00, € 10.00
3 * 2 = 6
A cheap way to continue on
the next line
Line 1
Line 2
See also
Plain text
Text inside double quotation marks
Multi-line text
softquoted strings