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F.3  String Comparing and Searching

Sheerpower String Functions -- Optimized for Business Applications

Description:
Sheerpower includes many ways to search strings and compare them. Like all other string functions, they are highly optimized.

Importance in Business Applications:

  • CRM Systems:
    Accurate and quick matching of customer names, addresses, or other text-based data is essential for maintaining a seamless user experience. Optimized functions like COMPARE(), MATCH(), and POS() allow businesses to:
    • Swiftly identify and reconcile discrepancies in data entries.
    • Reduce the chances of errors in customer records.

  • Financial Applications:
    In financial systems, where transaction data needs to be processed rapidly, optimized string comparison functions help:
    • Reduce the time required to validate transactions against business rules.
    • Ensure smooth business operations without delays, leading to efficient processes and higher customer satisfaction.

  • Data Analytics:
    In data analytics, where vast amounts of text data might need to be processed, the efficiency of Sheerpower's string functions is critical:
    • Enable quicker and more complex text analysis, such as pattern recognition or data mining.
    • Lead to faster insights and more timely decision-making.
Summary: These highly optimized string functions in Sheerpower are essential for reliable, scalable, and efficient processing of text-based data, critical to many business operations.

String Comparing and Searching Functions

Description:
The COMPARE() function compares two strings and returns a numeric value ranging from 0 (no match) to 100 (an exact match).

Example:

options$ = 'LEFT,RIGHT,UP,DOWN' best = 0 best$ = '' input 'Enter an option', default 'DOWM': usr_opt$ for idx = 1 to elements(options$) opt$ = element$(options$, idx) score = compare(opt$, usr_opt$) if score > best then best = score best$ = opt$ end if next idx select case best case 0 print 'Unknown option: '; usr_opt$ case 100 print 'Option okay, it was: '; usr_opt$ case else print 'Misspelled option: '; usr_opt$ print using 'Did you mean ? (## percent)': best$, best end select end

Output: Did you mean DOWN (94 percent)

Description:
The ITEM() function returns the number of the first item that matches the whole or partial item name given. A negative number is returned if more than one item matches.

Example:
z = item('ADD,EXIT,EXTRACT,MODIFY', 'MOD')
Output: 4
z = item('ADD,EXIT,EXTRACT,MODIFY', 'EX')
Output: -2

Description:
The MATCH() function compares str_expr2 with each of the elements in str_expr1 and returns the number of the element that matches. The TRUE parameter is used if the match is to be case-exact. The default is case-insensitive.

Example:
a$ = 'BLUE'
b$ = 'Blue'
c$ = a$
do
x = match('Red,White,Blue', c$, true)
print c$;
if x > 0 then
print ' is a match.'
else
print ' is not a match.'
c$ = b$
repeat do
end if
end do
Output: Blue is a match.

Description:
The PATTERN() function matches characters in str_expr1 against a pattern specified by str_expr2. It returns the position of the first character in str_expr1 that matches the pattern. If no match is found, it returns zero.

Pattern Options:

  • ? - Matches any single character. Example:
    if pattern('The quick brown fox', 'f?x') > 0 then print 'Found' end if
    Output: Found
  • * - Matches one or more of the preceding character, or zero or more with double asterisks. Example:
    if pattern('aaa 01/26/99', 'a* *01/26/99') > 0 then print 'The date is found' end if
    Output: The date is found
  • {} - Defines a group of characters. Can include ranges (e.g., {a-z}) or individual characters. Example:
    text$ = 'A1N5V7N0' rule_str$ = '{A-Z}{0-9}{A-Z}{0-9}{A-Z}{0-9}{A-Z}{0-9}' if pattern(text$, rule_str$) > 0 then print "Driver's license is correct." end if
    Output: Driver's license is correct
  • {^} - Matches characters that are NOT in the specified set. Example:
    print pattern('Mary J. Smith', '{^Mar}') print pattern('Mary J. Smith', 'J. {^S}') print pattern('Mary J. Smith', 'J. S?')
    Output: 4 0 6
  • ~ - Matches a character pattern that stands for itself. Example:
    text$ = '$4,670.00' if pattern(text$, '$~4,670.00') > 0 then print 'Your text is correct.' end if
    Output: Your text is correct
  • {|nnn,nnn,nnn|} - Matches binary data. Useful for detecting non-printable text characters. Example:
    text$ = 'Help yourself to some ' + chr$(13) + 'food' if pattern(text$, '{|13|}') > 0 then print 'Carriage return found.' end if
    Output: Carriage return found
  • {} - Matches text in str_expr1 against enclosed groups. Example:
    text$ = 'The area code is 619' if pattern(text$, 'is {<619|714|916>}') > 0 then print 'Your area code is on the list.' end if
    Output: Your area code is on the list
  • {(word_text)} - Matches a word or phrase. Example:
    a$ = 'There are dogs and cats in the house.' b$ = 'Everyone would like to make big$bucks!' if pattern(a$, '{(cats)}') > 0 then print 'The word was found.' end if if pattern(b$, '{(big$bucks)}') > 0 then print 'The $ word was found.' end if
    Output: The word was found. The $ word was found.
  • {|directive|} - Directives can be used to modify the search behavior (e.g., case-insensitive, beginning or end of a line). Example:
    a$ = 'ElEpHaNtS have trunks' b$ = 'water goes splash' if pattern(a$, '{|bol|}{|nocase|}elephants') > 0 then print 'elephants was found.' end if if pattern(b$, 'splash{|eol|}') > 0 then print 'splash was found.' end if
    Output: elephants was found. splash was found.

Description:

The POS() function searches for a substring within a string and returns the position of the first character of the substring. If the substring is not found, the function returns zero.

Example:
If int_expr is provided and is positive, the search starts at the int_expr position from the left. If int_expr is negative, the search is performed from right to left, beginning at the -int_expr position.

text$ = "Hello and goodbye"
andpos = pos(text$, 'and')
if andpos > 0 then print 'AND found at position'; andpos
Output: AND found at position 7

Description:
For a detailed description, see: Regular Expression Text Search

Arguments:
text_str (required): The text to operate on.

expr_str: The regular expression search with.

Example:
print regexsearch('The rain in Spain', 'rain')
Output: 5

Description:
The SCAN() function scans str_expr1 for the characters in str_expr2 and returns the position at which str_expr2 begins. The characters in str_expr2 need not appear contiguously in str_expr1.

Example:
a$ = 'Cameron Whitehorn'
b$ = 'amr Wtor'
position = scan(a$, b$)
Output: 2

Description:
The SKIP() function returns the position of the character following the last skipped character.

Example:
a$ = '31415 hello'
z = skip(a$, '1234567890 ')
print mid(a$, z)
Output: hello

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