ABBREV (Abbreviation)


>>-ABBREV(information,info--+---------+--)---------------------><
                            '-,length-'

returns 1 if info is equal to the leading characters of information and the length of info is not less than length. Returns 0 if either of these conditions is not met.

If you specify length, it must be a positive whole number or zero. The default for length is the number of characters in info.

Here are some examples:

ABBREV('Print','Pri')      ->    1
ABBREV('PRINT','Pri')      ->    0
ABBREV('PRINT','PRI',4)    ->    0
ABBREV('PRINT','PRY')      ->    0
ABBREV('PRINT','')         ->    1
ABBREV('PRINT','',1)       ->    0

Example: A null string always matches if a length of 0 (or the default) is used. This allows a default keyword to be selected automatically if desired; for example:

say 'Enter option:';   pull option .
select  /* keyword1 is to be the default */
  when abbrev('keyword1',option) then ...
  when abbrev('keyword2',option) then ...
  ...
  otherwise nop;
end;