Skip to main content

LENS

Returns the length of each element of a dynamic array.

Synopsis

LENS(dynarray)

Arguments

dynarray An expression that resolves to a dynamic array.

Description

The LENS function returns the number of characters in each element of a dynamic array. LENS counts characters, not bytes. Results are returned as a dynamic array of integers.

For numerics, prior to determining the length MVBasic performs all arithmetic operations and converts numbers to canonical form, with leading and trailing zeroes, a trailing decimal point, and all signs removed except a single minus sign. Note that LENS does count the decimal point and the minus sign. Numeric strings are not converted to canonical form. An empty string ("") or a missing element returns a length of 0 for that element.

Examples

The following example uses the LENS function to return the number of characters in each element of a dynamic array. Numbers are converted to canonical form:

nums=123:@VM:12.300:@VM:++0123.00:@VM:"+123.00":@VM:""
PRINT LENS(nums);  ! Returns 3ý4ý3ý7ý0

The following example show how LENS handles missing dynamic array elements:

nums=123:@VM:456:@VM:@VM:789
PRINT LENS(nums);  ! Returns 3ý3ý0ý3

See Also

FeedbackOpens in a new tab