Introduction
Various functions accept either sets or strings when expecting one or multiple strings, for example file names as supported by various file functions. The rules are described below Whenever a function expects a function parameter for table columns, the following types are supported and automatically put into sets.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Quoted strings | The content of the entire string is interpreted as one single string value Empty strings "" are treated as they are. | "Last,First Name" is such an example |
| Softquoted strings | The content of the entire string is interpreted as one single string value,too Empty strings '' are treated as they are. | 'Last,First Name' is such an example |
| Sets | Sets can contain any number of values Empty sets {} provide zero values. | { Last Name, First Name, "Value [EUR]", 123 } |
The following code example demonstrates this parameter type ruling using a user-defined function. The user-defined function gets all
values in form of sets and prints the contents.
define procedure( demonstrate, { { parameter 1, to set } }, 1, unlimited )
{
for (i[] = 1, i[] <= parameter count[], i[]++)
{
var name[] = 'parameter ' + str(i[]);
print( var name[][], " (", var name[][]{}," items) " );
}
echo;
}
demonstrate( A, B );
demonstrate( Hello World, Hello World ); // Both are same
demonstrate( "A,B", " A, B " ); // Both are different
demonstrate( 'A,B', ' A , B '); // Both are same
demonstrate( set('A,B'), set(' A , B ')); // The function 'set' breaks this softquoted string into 2 parts
demonstrate( "", '', ' ' ); // Blank, empty, empty
demonstrate( 'Hello World, Hello World ," Hello World "');
demonstrate( { Hello World, ' Hello World '," Hello World "}); // Note the differences
echo;
define additional procedure( demonstrate 2, demonstrate,
{ { parameter 1, to set members to string } }, 1, unlimited );
demonstrate ( { 1, 2, '3' } );
demonstrate 2 ( { 1, 2, '3' } ); // Note: All numbers are converted to strings
{'A'} (1 items) {'B'} (1 items)
{'Hello World'} (1 items) {'Hello World'} (1 items)
{'A,B'} (1 items) {' A, B '} (1 items)
{'A,B'} (1 items) {' A , B '} (1 items)
{'A','B'} (2 items) {'A','B'} (2 items)
{''} (1 items) {''} (1 items) {' '} (1 items)
{'Hello World, Hello World ," Hello World "'} (1 items)
{'Hello World',' Hello World ',' Hello World '} (3 items)
{1,2,'3'} (3 items)
{'1','2','3'} (3 items)