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ATLINE( ) Function

  • Article

Returns the line number of the first occurrence of a character expression or memo field within another character expression or memo field, counting from the first line.

ATLINE(cSearchExpression, cExpressionSearched)

Return Values

Numeric

Parameters

  • cSearchExpression
    Specifies the character expression that Microsoft Visual FoxPro looks for in cExpressionSearched.

  • cExpressionSearched
    Specifies the character expression that cSearchExpression searches for.

    Both cSearchExpression and cExpressionSearched can be memo fields of any size.

    Use MLINE( ) to return the line containing the matching character expression as a character string.

    Tip   ATLINE( ) offers a convenient way to search memo fields.

Remarks

ATLINE( ) searches the second character expression for the occurrence of the first character expression. ATLINE( ) performs a case-sensitive search. Use ATCLINE( ) to perform a search that isn't case-sensitive.

If the search is successful, ATLINE( ) returns the number of the line where the match occurs. If the search is unsuccessful, ATLINE( ) returns 0.

The line number that ATLINE( ) returns is determined by the value of SET MEMOWIDTH, even if cExpressionSearched isn't a memo field. For more information, see SET MEMOWIDTH.

Example

Example 1 locates the first time a character string occurs in a memo field, displays the first and last names of the employee, and the line of the memo containing the character string.

Example 2 demonstrates how the memo width affects ATLINE( ).

* Example 1
CLOSE DATABASES
OPEN DATABASE (HOME(2) + 'Data\testdata')
USE employee  && Open employee table

CLEAR
STORE 'Japanese' TO gcFindString  && Case sensitive
LOCATE FOR ATLINE(gcFindString, notes) != 0
? First_Name
?? Last_Name
? MLINE(notes, ATLINE(gcFindString, notes))

* Example 2
STORE '1234567890ABCDEFGHIJ' TO gcString
SET MEMOWIDTH TO 20
? ATLINE('AB', gcString)  && Displays 1
SET MEMOWIDTH TO 10
? ATLINE('AB', gcString)  && Displays 2

See Also

AT( ) | AT_C( ) | ATC( ) | ATCC( ) Function | ATCLINE( ) Function | LEFT( ) | RAT( ) | RATLINE( ) | RIGHT( ) | SUBSTR( ) | LEFTC( ) | RIGHTC( ) | SUBSTRC( ) | MLINE( ) | SET MEMOWIDTH | $ Operator | OCCURS( ) | INLIST( )