1. ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
  2. ZBI Commands
  3. EXTRACT$
  • ZPL II, ZBI 2, Set-Get-Do, Mirror, WML Programming Guide
EXTRACT$

EXTRACT$

This function searches for a string based on a starting and ending string. When these two strings are found, the string between them is returned.
If the EXTRACT$ command encounters a carriage return line feed before encountering the beginning character or the ending character, it returns null.
Format
EXTRACT$ (CHANNEL, START$, STOP$)
EXTRACT$ (A$, START$, STOP$)
Parameters
  • CHANNEL
     = extracts data from this channel
  • A$
     = the source string
  • START$
     = Once this string is found, the extract pulls characters immediately following.
  • STOP$
     = the extraction stops when this string is found
Example
This example shows how to extract the word Technologies from this string: Zebra,Technologies,Corporation.
This is what the program looks like to accomplish this:
10 LET A$ = "Zebra,Technologies,Corporation," 
20 LET DATA$ = EXTRACT$(A$,",",",")
Example
This example shows how the EXTRACT$ command works from an open port:
10 OPEN #1: NAME "SER" 
20 LET DATA$ = EXTRACT$(1,",",",")
Notice how the quotes are used to show a literal character, in this case a comma.
Example
This example shows how the start and stop points are variable; a variable name is used instead of the literal:
10 LET B$ = "," 
20 LET A$ = "Zebra,Technologies,Corporation" 
30 LET DATA$ = EXTRACT$(A$,B$,B$) 
40 PRINT DATA$ 
RUN 
Technologies
Example
This example shows how an empty string can be used to extract from the start of the input string to the end string:
10 LET IN$ = "BLAH BLAH <END>" 
20 LET B$ = EXTRACT$(IN$, "", "<END>") 
30 PRINT B$ 
RUN 
BLAH BLAH
Example
This example will use an empty string to extract to the end of a line:
10 LET IN$ = "BLAH <START> THE DATA" 
20 LET B$ = EXTRACT$(IN$, "<START>", "") 
30 PRINT B$ 
RUN 
THE DATA
Comments
EXTRACT$ reads in and discards data until the start criteria is met. Then, all data is returned up to the stop criteria.