Find
Searches a string, a category list, or an array, for a specified substring, subcategory list, or subarray, and if it is found, returns its start position.
Syntax
Find(<value>, <key> [, <skip> [, <reverse> [, <ignore_case>]]])
Parameters
<value>
Type: None
Text value, categorical value, or array to operate on.
<key>
Type: None
Value to search for in <value>.
<skip>
Type: Long
(Optional.) The number of positions to skip in <value> before starting the search. If <reverse> is True, <skip> is the number of positions to skip from the end of <value>. If <reverse> is omitted or False, <skip> is the number of positions to skip from the start of <value>. Treated as 0 if omitted or is < 0.
Reverse
Type: Boolean
(Optional.) If True, <value> is searched backwards. If <reverse> is omitted or False, <value> is searched forwards.
IgnoreCase
Type: Boolean
(Optional.) If False, the comparison is case-sensitive. If <ignore_case> is omitted or True, the comparison is case-insensitive.
(return)
Type: Long
Position of Key (if found) in <value>, relative to the start of <value>; -1 otherwise.
Notes
If <value> is Text, <key> is converted to text if necessary and is searched for as a substring of <value>. Unless <ignore_case> is False, the comparison is case-insensitive.
If <value> is Categorical or an array (which can contain values of any type), Key can be a long, double, text, date, boolean, or categorical value, or an array. When comparing Key (or the items in Key) with the items in <value>, the normal conversion and comparison rules for variant types are used if necessary. Unless <ignore_case> is False, the comparison of text items (or items converted to text) is case-insensitive. If either item is Null, they are equal only if both are Null. If <key> is a categorical value or an array, it is found only if its items occur as a sequence of consecutive items in <value> and in the same order.
If either <value> or <key> is NULL, the return value is -1 (not found). If <value> is not Text, Categorical, or an array, an error occurs.
How you specify a text string as an argument depends on whether you are using the function in an SQL query or in mrScriptBasic or mrScriptMetadata. In an SQL query, enclose text strings in ' ' (single quotation marks). In mrScriptBasic or mrScriptMetadata, enclose text strings in " " (double quotation marks).
Examples
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Function call
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Val
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Length
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Result
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Notes
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Find(Val, Key)
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24 St John's Road, Barnes
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barnes
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19
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A forward search of a text value, starting from the beginning of the address. The comparison is case-insensitive.
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Find(Val, Key, , True)
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3 Glasgow Hill, Glasgow
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glasgow
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16
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A backward search of a text value, starting from the end of the address. The comparison is case-insensitive.
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Find(Val, Key)
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{3,7,8,1,9,10,5,4}
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5
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6
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A forward search of a categorical value, starting from the first category.
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Find(Val, Key, 7)
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Val: {3,7,8,1,9,10,5,4}
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5
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-1
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A forward search of a categorical value, skipping the first 7 categories.
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Find(Val, Key, , , False)
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24 St John's Road, Barnes
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barnes
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-1
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A forward search of a text value, starting from the beginning of the address. The comparison is case-sensitive.
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Find(Val, Key)
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Split("The quick brown fox")
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Split("brown fox")
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2
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A forward search for an array within another array. For more information, see Split. |
Examples using text variables
These examples use the name and address variables, which are text variables that store respondents' names and addresses, respectively. These examples show how you would use the Find function in mrScriptBasic or mrScriptMetadata. In SQL queries, enclose text strings in ' ' (single quotation marks) instead of " " (double quotation marks).
The following example selects any respondent whose address contains “London” in upper case, lower case, or a mixture of both cases. Find returns -1 when the search string has not been found. In this example the <> operator is used to test that the return value is not -1, which means that “London” exists somewhere in the text being searched.
address.Find("London") <> -1
Find lets you search for a string in a particular position. This is useful when the position of the search string in the text you are searching is important. For example, the following selects respondents whose names begin with the string “Brian”:
Find(name, "Brian") = 0
Examples using categorical variables
These examples use the remember multiple response variable.
This example selects all respondents who chose the Dinosaurs category regardless of its position in the list of categories chosen:
remember.Find({dinosaurs}) <> -1
The following example selects respondents for whom the Dinosaurs category is the first category in the list of their responses:
remember.Find({dinosaurs}) = 0
See Example SQL queries for an example on using Find in SQL queries.
See also