Substring ([s,e])

The [] (square brackets) extract a substring.

Syntax

Note: In the next(s) syntax diagram(s), the [ ] { } | symbols are part of the syntax.
Single character position form: 
variable [ pos ]
Start/end position form: 
variable [ start-pos , end-pos ]
  1. variable must be a variable defined with the CHAR or VARCHAR type.
  2. pos defines the position of the character to be extracted.
  3. start-pos defines the position of the first character of the substring to be extracted.
  4. end-pos defines the position of the last character of the substring to be extracted.

Usage

The [] (square brackets) notation following a CHAR or VARCHAR variable extracts a substring from that character variable.

The pos, start-pos and end-pos arguments can be expressed in bytes or characters, depending on the length semantics used in your programs.

Important:

Substring expressions in SQL statements are evaluated by the database server. This may have a different behavior than the substring operator of the language.

Example

MAIN
  DEFINE s CHAR(10)
  LET s = "abcdef"
  DISPLAY s[3,4]
END MAIN