New RPG built in function to split apart a string

Two years ago IBM introduced a SQL function, SPLIT, that would break apart a string into parts. In the latest Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.4 and 7.3 introduces into RPG a Built in Function, BiF, that does a similar thing.

The Split BiF, %SPLIT, breaks apart data from a string into a temporary array.

Let me started with some examples:

01 **free 02 dcl-s String char(100) inz('RPGPGM is a website that provides stories about IBMi') ; 03 dcl-s wkArray char(10) dim(10) ; 04 wkArray = %split(String) ;

Line 2: This variable contains the string I will be splitting into array elements. And yes, I do know it is not "IBMi", but you will see why I did this below.

Line 3: Definition of the array that will contain the parts of the string.

Line 4: All I need to do is just use the %SPLIT BiF passing to it the variable name and the string is split everywhere there is a space into a separate array elements.

The results are:

EVAL wkArray WKARRAY(1) = 'RPGPGM ' WKARRAY(2) = 'is ' WKARRAY(3) = 'a ' WKARRAY(4) = 'website ' WKARRAY(5) = 'that ' WKARRAY(6) = 'provides ' WKARRAY(7) = 'stories ' WKARRAY(8) = 'about ' WKARRAY(9) = 'IBMi ' WKARRAY(10) = ' '

The %SPLIT can use other characters as the separator, rather than space.

In the following example I am using a comma as the separator. The contents of the variable looks like data from a CSV type file.

01 **free 02 dcl-s String char(100) inz('"Simon","Hutchinson","RPGPGM.COM",1') ; 03 dcl-s wkArray char(20) dim(5) ; 04 String = %scanrpl('"':'':String) ; 05 wkArray = %split(String:',') ; 06 wkArray = %split(%scanrpl('"':'':String):',') ;

Line 2: This is the string I will be splitting up.

Line 4: I am removing the double quotes ( " ) using the Scan and Replace BiF, %SCANRPL, and replacing them with null. This removes the double quotes from the string.

Line 5: Then I use the %SPLIT with a second parameter, which denotes the separator character.

The results look like:

EVAL wkarray WKARRAY(1) = 'Simon ' WKARRAY(2) = 'Hutchinson ' WKARRAY(3) = 'RPGPGM.COM ' WKARRAY(4) = '1 ' WKARRAY(5) = ' '

Line 6: Why use two lines of code, lines 4 and 5, when I can do the same in one line? The results are the same.

I would not use this method to break apart a CSV into individual file fields or table columns. I would still use the method I have shown before using the CPYFRMIMPF command.

%SPLIT can handle multiple separator characters, like in this example.

07 String = 'One,Two.Three|Four:Five' ; 08 wkArray = %split(String:':|.,') ;

Line 7: I am using four different separator characters between each of the words.

Line 8: When I use the Split I need to define all of those separator characters in the second parameter.

The results show an array with each word in a separate element.

EVAL wkarray WKARRAY(1) = 'One ' WKARRAY(2) = 'Two ' WKARRAY(3) = 'Three ' WKARRAY(4) = 'Four ' WKARRAY(5) = 'Five '

If there are multiple separator characters between each word Split is "smart" enough not to generate an empty value.

09 String = '.One..Two...Three....Four.....Five' ; 10 wkArray = %split(String:'.') ;

Line 9: The words in the string are separated by increasing numbers of periods ( . ).

Line 10: I just need to define the separator character as a period.

The results are each word in its own array element, with no blank elements between them.

EVAL wkarray WKARRAY(1) = 'One ' WKARRAY(2) = 'Two ' WKARRAY(3) = 'Three ' WKARRAY(4) = 'Four ' WKARRAY(5) = 'Five '

Warning: To be able to use this on other IBM i partitions they must have the run time Split PTF installed.

 

You can learn more about the SPLIT RPG Built in Function from the IBM website here.

 

This article was written for IBM i 7.4 TR4, and will work for 7.3 TR10 too.