matchText
Type
function
Summary
Returns true if the regex pattern pattern is found in the specified string, false otherwise.
Syntax
matchText(<string>, <pattern> [, <foundTextVarsList>])
Description
Use the matchText function to check whether a string contains a specified pattern.
If the pattern includes a pair of parentheses, the substring matching the part of the pattern inside the parentheses is placed in the first variable in the foundTextVarsList. Additional substrings, matching additional parenthetical expressions within the pattern, are placed in additional variables in the foundTextVarsList. The number of parenthetical expressions in the pattern should match the number of variables in the foundTextVarsList.
If the matchText function returns false, the values of the variables in the foundTextVarsList are not changed.
For example, the following matchText function call extracts the user name and email address from a typical email "From" line:
matchText(myVar,\"^From: (.*) <(.+@.+)>\",userName,userAddress)
There are two parenthetical expressions in the pattern above:"(.*)" and "(.+@.+)". If the function returns true - that is, if the string in myVar matches the regex pattern - then the substring of myVar that matches the first of these parenthetical expressions is placed in the variable called userName; the second is placed in the variable userAddress.
The string and pattern are always case-sensitive, regardless of the setting of the caseSensitive property. (If you need to make a case-insensitive comparison, use "(?i)" at the start of the pattern to make the match case-insensitive.)
The matchText and matchChunk functions return the same value, given the same string and pattern. The difference between the two is that the matchText function records the text of matched substrings in the optional foundTextVarsList, which the matchChunk function records the character positions of the matched substrings.
Parameters
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
string | string | |
pattern | Any expression that evaluates to a regex pattern | |
foundTextVarsList | The optional foundTextVarsList consists of one or more names of existing variables, separated by commas. |
Examples
matchText("Goodbye","bye")
matchText("Goodbye","^Good")
matchText(phoneNumber,"([0-9]+)-([0-9]+-[0-9]+)",areaCode,phone)
Related
control structure: function
function: matchChunk, value, localNames
glossary: property, return, variable, value, function call, regex pattern, case-sensitive, case-insensitive, function
keyword: string
property: caseSensitive
Compatibility and Support
Introduced
LiveCode 1.0
OS
mac
windows
linux
ios
android
Platforms
desktop
server
mobile