NUMCHARS

The NUMCHARS function counts the number of characters in a text expression. When the value is a multiline text value, NUMCHARS returns the total number of characters in all the lines. The result returned by NUMCHARS has the same dimensions as the specified expression.

Tip:

When you are using a multibyte character set, you can use the NULLIF function instead of the NUMCHARS function.

Return Value

INTEGER

Syntax

NUMCHARS(text-expression)

Arguments

text-expression: The text expression whose characters are to be counted. NUMCHARS accepts either a TEXT or NTEXT argument. It does not perform an automatic conversion to either data type. It returns the information that is correct for the data type of the specified argument.

Examples

Example 18-34 Counting the Characters in the Longest Name

You would like to know the length of the names of your products so you can specify the appropriate width for the label column in a report. You can use the NUMCHARS function in combination with the LARGEST function to find the length of the longest label. Then use that value to set the column size. The following statements in a program find the longest name and use the character count to format a report.

firstcol = LARGEST(NUMCHARS(name.product))+1
LIMIT month TO FIRST 3
FOR product
   DO
     ROW WIDTH FIRSTCOL name.product WIDTH 6 ACROSS month - 
     FIRST 3: units
   DOEND

When the program is run, it produces the following output.

3-Person Tents      200    203    269
Aluminum Canoes     347    400    482
Tennis Racquets     992  1,076  1,114
Warm-up Suits     1,096  1,214  1,294
Running Shoes     2,532  2,405  2,775