Converts an expression to the alpha data type and sets the length of the result.

Syntax

$toalpha(expression,length)

Parameters

Return Value

Character string (alpha), length bytes long.

Comments

Use $toalpha to convert expression to the alpha data type in an area length bytes long. If length is negative, the result string is set to the maximum possible length. If length is zero, the result is the null string.

String comparisons involving this function are case-insensitive.

If expression is a number, the number is converted to character string form in an area length bytes long. If the given area is not large enough to hold the converted value, an error results.

Example

Assume that LastName is “Smith “.

$toalpha(LastName,3)

Evaluates to “Smi”.

$toalpha(LastName,12)

Evaluates to “Smith “.

$toalpha(50,2)

Evaluates to “50”.

$toalpha(20+30,19)

Evaluates to ” 50″ (17 leading spaces).

$toalpha(200+300,20)

Evaluates to ” 500″ (17 leading spaces).

$toalpha(500,-2)

Evaluates to ” 500″ (14 leading spaces).

list all Emps format $toalpha(FirstName,6), $toalpha(LastName,9)

Alters the width of values being output with a LIST command.

See Also

$left

$substring

$tochr

$tonumber

$toord

About Character Literals

About Functional Expressions

Conversion Between Data Types