STRING_HEAD macro

The STRING_HEAD macro is available only in HCL® Campaign.

Syntax

STRING_HEAD(num_chars, data)

Parameters

num_chars

The number of characters to returns from the beginning of each string in data. This must be a positive integer greater than zero.

data

ASCII text string values. This can be ASCII text in quotes, a column of text, a cell range containing text, or an expression evaluating to any of the above. For the format definition of data, see the "Macro Function Parameters" section in the chapter in this guide for your HCL product.

Description

STRING_HEAD returns the first num_chars characters from each string value in the specified data range. If num_chars is greater than the number of characters in a text string, the remaining characters are padded with the null character " \0 ".

Examples


`TEMP = STRING_HEAD(3, "JAN 15, 1997")` Creates a new column named `TEMP`, which contains the ASCII text string " `JAN` ".
`TEMP = STRING_HEAD(10, "Pressure")` Creates a new column named `TEMP`, which contains the ASCII text string " `Pressure` ".
`TEMP = STRING_HEAD(5, V1)` Creates a new column named `TEMP` containing the first five characters of each string in column `V1`.
`TEMP = STRING_HEAD(1, V1:V3)` Creates three new columns named `TEMP`, `VX`, and `VY`. The values in the `TEMP` column are the first characters of the strings in the corresponding rows of column `V1`, the values of the `VX` column are the first characters of strings in corresponding rows of column `V2`, and the values of the `VY` column are the first characters of the strings in corresponding rows of column `V3`.
`TEMP = STRING_HEAD(12, V4[1:50]:V6]` Creates three new columns named `TEMP`, `VX`, and `VY`. The values in the `TEMP` column are the first 12 characters of the strings in rows 1-50 of column `V1`, the values of the `VX` column are the first 12 characters of strings in rows 1-50 of column `V2`, and the values of the `VY` column are the first 12 characters of the strings in rows 1-50 of column `V3`.

Related functions


Function	Description
`STRING_CONCAT`	Concatenates two text strings from the specified data ranges
`STRING_LENGTH`	Returns the length of each string in the specified data range
`STRING_SEG`	Returns the string segment between two specified indexes
`STRING_TAIL`	Returns the last n characters of each string in the specified data range