OpenOffice.org BASIC Guide.pdf - OpenOffice.org wiki

Strings 50
The function searches through the transferred Search string in a loop by means of InStr in
the original term Source. If it finds the search term, it takes the part before the expression
and writes it to the Result return buffer. It adds the new Part section at the point of the
search term Search. If no more matches are found for the search term, the function
establishes the part of the string still remaining and adds this to the return buffer. It
returns the string produced in this way as the result of the replacement process.
Since replacing parts of character sequences is one of the most frequently used functions,
the Mid function in OpenOffice.org Basic has been extended so that this task is performed
automatically. The following example replaces three characters with the string is from the
sixth position of the MyString string.
Dim MyString As String
MyString = "This was my text"
Mid(MyString, 6, 3, "is")
Formatting Strings
The Format function formats numbers as a string. To do this, the function expects a Format
expression to be specified, which is then used as the template for formatting the numbers.
Each place holder within the template ensures that this item is formatted correspondingly
in the output value. The five most important place holders within a template are the zero
(0), pound sign (#), period (.), comma (,) and dollar sign ($) characters.
The 0 character within the template ensures that a number is always placed at the
corresponding point. If a number is not provided, 0 is displayed in its place.
A . stands for the decimal point symbol defined by the operating system in the
country-specific settings.
The example below shows how the 0 and . characters can define the digits after the decimal
point in an expression:
MyFormat = "0.00"
MyString = Format(-1579.8, MyFormat) ' Provides "-1579,80"
MyString = Format(1579.8, MyFormat) ' Provides "1579,80"
MyString = Format(0.4, MyFormat) ' Provides "0,40"
MyString = Format(0.434, MyFormat) ' Provides "0,43"
In the same way, zeros can be added in front of a number to achieve the desired length:
MyFormat = "0000.00"
MyString = Format(-1579.8, MyFormat) ' Provides "-1579,80"
MyString = Format(1579.8, MyFormat) ' Provides "1579,80"
MyString = Format(0.4, MyFormat) ' Provides "0000,40"
MyString = Format(0.434, MyFormat) ' Provides "0000,43"