Platinum Edition Using HTML 4, XML, and Java 1.2
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Eric Ladd
ISBN: 078971759x
Publication Date: 11/01/98

String Functions

CFML comes with a wealth of functions that make string manipulation a breeze. In fact, nearly one quarter of all CFML functions operate on strings. The following list summarizes some of the more commonly used string functions:

•  Asc(str)—Returns the ASCII numeric value of the first character of str.

•  Chr(val)—Returns the character with the ASCII value equal to val.

•  CJustify(str,len)—Centers str in a field of length len.

•  Compare(str1,str2)—Does a case-sensitive comparison of str1 and str2, returning -1 if str1 is less than str2, 0 if the strings are equal, and 1 if str1 is greater than str2.

•  CompareNoCase(str1,str2)—Does a case-sensitive comparison of str1 and str2, returning -1 if str1 is less than str2, 0 if the strings are equal, and 1 if str1 is greater than str2.

•  Find(str1,str2,start)—Returns the position in str2 where there is an occurrence of str1. The case-sensitive search begins at the first character unless you specify a different value with the start parameter. The function returns 0 if no occurrence of str1 is found.

•  FindNoCase(str1,str2,start)—Returns the position in str2 where there is an occurrence of str1. The not case-sensitive search begins at the first character unless you specify a different value with the start parameter. The function returns 0 if no occurrence of str1 is found.

•  Insert(str1,str2,pos)—Inserts str1 into str2 at position pos. If pos is 0, the function concatenates str1 and str2.

•  LCase(str)—Converts str to lowercase.

•  Left(str,pos)—Returns the leftmost pos characters from str.

•  Len(str)—Returns the number of characters in str.

•  LTrim(str)—Removes any leading spaces from str.

•  Mid(str,start,num)—Extracts num characters from str, starting at position start.

•  REFind(rexpr,str,start)—Returns the position of an occurrence of the regular expression rexpr in str, beginning its search at position start.

•  Replace(str1,str2,str3,scope)—Replaces occurrences of str2 in str1 with str3. scope controls how many replacements should be made (one or all).

•  RERplace(str1,rexpr,str2,scope)—Replaces occurrences of the regular expression rexpr in str1 with str2. scope controls how many replacements should be made (one or all).

•  Reverse(str)—Reverses the order of the characters in str.

•  Right(str,pos)—Returns the rightmost pos characters from str.

•  RJustify(str,len)—Right-justifies str in a field of length len.

•  RTrim(str)—Removes trailing spaces from str.

•  UCase(str)—Converts str to uppercase.

Formatting Functions

ColdFusion can do some of the preparatory work that needs to be done before displaying a value. The following are some of the more popular CFML formatting functions:

•  DateFormat(date,mask)—Formats date according to the specified mask. A mask of mm/dd/yy, for example, would yield a date in the form 12/31/98.

•  DollarFormat(number)—Returns number formatted as a dollar amount with a dollar sign, decimal point, and commas where necessary.

•  HTMLEditFormat(HTMLcode)—Removes reserved characters within the string HTMLcode and replaces them with their escaped values. The less than sign (<), for example, would be replaced with &lt;.

•  NumberFormat(number,mask)—Returns number formatted according to the specified mask. For example, a mask of ‘_,___.__’ would produce a number in the form 1,000.00.

•  ParagraphFormat(str)—Removes consecutive carriage return and line feed characters from str and replaces them with <P> tags.

•  TimeFormat(time,mask)—Formats time according to the specified mask. A mask of hh:mm:ssTT, for example, produces a time in the form 07:25:00AM.

Array Functions

Arrays are a convenient way to store related information for quick reference throughout your template. You create an array with the ArrayNew function. For example:

stats = ArrayNew(2)

creates a new, two-dimensional array. This means the array will have two subscripts: stats[subs1][subs2]. ColdFusion supports one-, two-, and three-dimensional arrays.