C5_SOUNDEX

 SOUNDEX()
 Convert a character string to "soundex" form
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Syntax

     SOUNDEX(<cString>) --> cSoundexString

 Arguments

     <cString> is the character string to convert.

 Returns

     SOUNDEX() returns a four-digit character string in the form A999.

 Description

     SOUNDEX() is a character function that indexes and searches for sound-
     alike or phonetic matches.  It is used in applications where the precise
     spelling of character keys is not known or where there is a high
     probability of misspelled names.  Misspelling is common in real-time
     transaction systems where the data entry operator is receiving
     information over the telephone.  SOUNDEX() works by bringing
     sound-alikes together under the same key value.  Note, however, the
     soundex method is not absolute.  Keys that are quite different can
     result in the same soundex value.

 Examples

     .  This example builds an index using SOUNDEX() to create the key
        values.  It then searches for a value found in the Salesman field:

        USE Sales
        INDEX ON SOUNDEX(Salesman) TO Salesman
        SEEK SOUNDEX("Smith")
        ? FOUND(), Salesman            // Result: .T. Smith

     .  Here, a search is made for the same key as above but with a
        different spelling:

        SEEK SOUNDEX("Smythe")
        ? FOUND(), Salesman            // Result: .T. Smith

 Files   Library is EXTEND.LIB, source file is SOURCE\SAMPLE\SOUNDEX.C.

See Also: INDEX LOCATE SEEK SET SOFTSEEK



C5 Data Manipulation Functions

Array :

AADD() :

Add a new element to the end of an array

AADD( <aTarget>, <expValue> ) --> Value

ACLONE() :

Duplicate a nested or multidimensional array

ACLONE( <aSource> ) --> aDuplicate

ACOPY() :

Copy elements from one array to another

ACOPY( <aSource>, <aTarget>, [ <nStart> ], [ <nCount> ], 
    [ <nTargetPos> ] ) --> aTarget

ADEL() :

Delete an array element

ADEL( <aTarget>, <nPosition> ) --> aTarget

ADIR()* :

Fill a series of arrays with directory information

ADIR([ <cFilespec> ],
    [ <aFilenames> ],
    [ <aSizes> ],
    [ <aDates> ],
    [ <aTimes> ],
    [ <aAttributes> ] ) --> nFiles

AEVAL() :

Execute a code block for each element in an array

AEVAL( <aArray>, <bBlock>, [ <nStart> ], [ <nCount> ] ) --> aArray

AFILL() :

Fill an array with a specified value

AFILL( <aTarget>, <expValue>, [ <nStart> ], [ <nCount> ] )
       --> aTarget

AINS() :

Insert a NIL element into an array

AINS( <aTarget>, <nPosition> ) --> aTarget

ARRAY() :

Create an uninitialized array of specified length

ARRAY( <nElements> [, <nElements>...] ) --> aArray

ASCAN() :

Scan an array for a value or until a block returns (.T.)

ASCAN( <aTarget>, <expSearch>, [ <nStart> ], [ <nCount> ] )
      --> nStoppedAt

ASIZE() :

Grow or shrink an array

ASIZE( <aTarget>, <nLength> ) --> aTarget

ASORT() :

Sort an array

ASORT( <aTarget>, [ <nStart> ], [ <nCount> ], [ <bOrder> ] )
       --> aTarget

ATAIL() :

Return value of the highest numbered (last) element of an array

ATAIL( <aArray> ) --> Element

Common :

EMPTY() :

Determine if the result of an expression is empty

EMPTY( <exp> ) --> lEmpty

LEN() :

Return the length of a character string or array size

LEN( <cString> | <aArray> ) --> nCount

MAX() :

Return the larger of two numeric or date values

MAX( <nExp1>, <nExp2> ) --> nLarger
MAX( <dExp1>, <dExp2> ) --> dLarger

MIN() :

Return the smaller of two numeric or date values

MIN( <nExp1>, <nExp2> ) --> nSmaller
MIN( <dExp1>, <dExp2> ) --> dSmaller

PAD() :

Pad character, date or numeric values with a fill character

PADL( <exp>, <nLength>, [ <cFillChar> ] ) --> cPaddedString
PADC( <exp>, <nLength>, [ <cFillChar> ] ) --> cPaddedString
PADR( <exp>, <nLength>, [ <cFillChar> ] ) --> cPaddedString

TRANSFORM() :

Convert any value into a formatted character string

TRANSFORM( <exp>, <cSayPicture> ) --> cFormatString

TYPE() :

Determine the type of an expression

TYPE( <cExp> ) --> cType

VALTYPE() :

Determine the data type returned by an expression

VALTYPE( <exp> ) --> cType

Date & Time :

CDOW() :

Convert a date value to a character day of the week

CDOW( <dExp> ) --> cDayName

CMONTH() :

Convert a date to a character month name

CMONTH( <dDate> ) --> cMonth

CTOD() :

Convert a date string to a date value

CTOD( <cDate> ) --> dDate

DATE() :

Return the system date as a date value

DATE() --> dSystem

DAY() :

Return the day of the month as a numeric value

DAY( <dDate> ) --> nDay

DOW() :

Convert a date value to a numeric day of the week

DOW( <dDate> ) --> nDay

DTOC() :

Convert a date value to a character string

DTOC( <dDate> ) --> cDate

DTOS() :

Convert a date value to a string formatted as yyyymmdd

DTOS( <dDate> ) --> cDate

MONTH() :

Convert a date value to the number of the month

MONTH( <dDate> ) --> nMonth

SECONDS() :

Return the number of seconds elapsed since midnight

SECONDS() --> nSeconds

TIME() :

Return the system time

TIME() --> cTimeString

YEAR() :

Convert a date value to the year as a numeric value

YEAR( <dDate> ) --> nYear

Numeric :

ABS() :

Return the absolute value of a numeric expression

ABS( <nExp> ) --> nPositive

BIN2I() :

Convert a 16-bit signed integer to a numeric value

BIN2I( <cSignedInt> ) --> nNumber

BIN2L() :

Convert a 32-bit signed integer to a numeric value

BIN2L( <cSignedInt> ) --> nNumber

BIN2W() :

Convert a 16-bit unsigned integer to a numeric value

BIN2W( <cUnsignedInt> ) --> nNumber

EXP() :

Calculate e**x

EXP( <nExponent> ) --> nAntilogarithm

INT() :

Convert a numeric value to an integer

INT( <nExp> ) --> nInteger

I2BIN() :

Convert a numeric to a 16-bit binary integer

I2BIN( <nInteger> ) --> cBinaryInteger

LOG() :

Calculate the natural logarithm of a numeric value

LOG( <nExp> ) --> nNaturalLog

L2BIN() :

Convert a numeric value to a 32-bit binary integer

L2BIN( <nExp> ) --> cBinaryInteger

MOD()* :

Return dBASE III PLUS modulus of two numbers

MOD( <nDividend>, <nDivisor> ) --> nRemainder

ROUND() :

Return a value rounded to a specified number of digits

ROUND( <nNumber>, <nDecimals> ) --> nRounded

SQRT() :

Return the square root of a positive number

SQRT( <nNumber> ) --> nRoot

VAL() :

Convert a character number to numeric type

VAL( <cNumber> ) --> nNumber

String & Memo :

ALLTRIM() :

Remove leading and trailing spaces from character string

ALLTRIM( <cString> ) --> cTrimString

ASC() :

Convert a character to its ASCII value

ASC( <cExp> ) --> nCode

AT() :

Return the position of a substring within a string

AT( <cSearch>, <cTarget> ) --> nPosition

CHR() :

Convert an ASCII code to a character value

CHR( <nCode> ) --> cChar

HARDCR() :

Replace all soft CRs with hard CRs

HARDCR( <cString> ) --> cConvertedString

ISALPHA() :

Determine if the leftmost character is alphabetic

ISALPHA( <cString> ) --> lBoolean

ISDIGIT() :

Determine if the leftmost character is a digit

ISDIGIT( <cString> ) --> lBoolean

ISLOWER() :

Determine if the leftmost character is a lower case letter

ISLOWER( <cString> ) --> lBoolean

ISUPPER() :

Determine if the leftmost character is upper case

ISUPPER( <cString> ) --> lBoolean

LEFT() :

Extract a substring beginning with the first character

LEFT( <cString>, <nCount> ) --> cSubString

LOWER() :

Convert uppercase characters to lowercase

LOWER( <cString> ) --> cLowerString

LTRIM() :

Remove leading spaces from a character string

LTRIM( <cString> ) --> cTrimString

MEMOEDIT() :

Display or edit character strings and memo fields

MEMOEDIT( [ <cString> ],
    [ <nTop> ], [ <nLeft> ],
    [ <nBottom> ], [ <nRight> ],
    [ <lEditMode> ],
    [ <cUserFunction> ],
    [ <nLineLength> ],
    [ <nTabSize> ],
    [ <nTextBufferRow> ],
    [ <nTextBufferColumn> ],
    [ <nWindowRow> ],
    [ <nWindowColumn> ] ) --> cTextBuffer

MEMOLINE() :

Extract a line of text from character string or memo field

MEMOLINE( <cString>,
    [ <nLineLength> ],
    [ <nLineNumber> ],
    [ <nTabSize> ],
    [ <lWrap> ] ) --> cLine

MEMOREAD() :

Return the contents of a disk file as a character string

MEMOREAD( <cFile> ) --> cString

MEMOTRAN() :

Replace carriage return/line feeds in character strings

MEMOTRAN( <cString>,
    [ <cReplaceHardCR> ],
    [ <cReplaceSoftCR> ] ) --> cNewString

MEMOWRIT() :

Write a character string or memo field to a disk file

MEMOWRIT( <cFile>, <cString> ) --> lSuccess

MLCOUNT() :

Count the lines in a character string or memo field

MLCOUNT( <cString>, [ <nLineLength> ],  [ <nTabSize> ],
         [ <lWrap> ] ) --> nLines

MLCTOPOS() :

Return byte position based on line and column position

MLCTOPOS( <cText>, <nWidth>, <nLine>,
    <nCol>, [ <nTabSize> ], [ <lWrap> ] ) --> nPosition

MLPOS() :

Determine the position of a line in a memo field

MLPOS( <cString>, <nLineLength>,
     <nLine>, [ <nTabSize> ], [ <lWrap> ] ) --> nPosition

MPOSTOLC() :

Return line and column position based on byte position

MPOSTOLC( <cText>, <nWidth>, <nPos>,
     [ <nTabSize> ], [ <lWrap> ] ) --> aLineColumn

RAT() :

Return the position of the last occurrence of a substring

RAT( <cSearch>, <cTarget> ) --> nPosition

REPLICATE() :

Return a string repeated a specified number of times

REPLICATE( <cString>, <nCount> ) --> cRepeatedString

RIGHT() :

Return a substring beginning with rightmost character

RIGHT( <cString>, <nCount> ) --> cSubString

RTRIM() :

Remove trailing spaces from a character string

RTRIM( <cString> ) --> cTrimString

SET EXACT* :

Toggle exact matches for character strings

SET EXACT on | OFF | <xlToggle>

SOUNDEX() :

Convert a character string to soundex form

SOUNDEX( <cString> ) --> cSoundexString

SPACE() :

Return a string of spaces

SPACE( <nCount> ) --> cSpaces

STR() :

Convert a numeric expression to a character string

STR( <nNumber>, [ <nLength> ], [ <nDecimals> ] ) --> cNumber

STRTRAN() :

Search and replace characters within a character string

STRTRAN( <cString>, <cSearch>, [ <cReplace> ],
    [ <nStart> ], [ <nCount> ] ) --> cNewString

STUFF() :

Delete and insert characters in a string

STUFF( <cString>, <nStart>, <nDelete>, <cInsert> ) --> cNewString

SUBSTR() :

Extract a substring from a character string

SUBSTR( <cString>, <nStart>, [ <nCount> ] ) --> cSubstring

TRIM() :

Remove trailing spaces from a character string

TRIM( <cString> ) --> cTrimString

UPPER() :

Convert lowercase characters to uppercase

UPPER( <cString> ) --> cUpperString