LENV: Returning the Length of an Alphanumeric Field

Syntax: How to Find the Length of an Alphanumeric Field

LENV(source_string, output)

where:

source_string

Alphanumeric of type An or AnV

Is the source string or field. If it is an An format field, the function returns its size, n. For a character string enclosed in quotation marks or a variable, the size of the string or variable is returned. For a field of AnV format, its length, taken from the length-in-bytes of the field, is returned.

output

Integer

Is the field to which the result is returned, or the format of the output value enclosed in single quotation marks (').

Example: Finding the Length of an AnV Field

TRIMV creates an AnV field named TITLEV by removing trailing blanks from the TITLE value. Then LENV returns the actual length of each instance of TITLEV to the ALEN field:

TABLE FILE MOVIES                                                 
PRINT 
COMPUTE TITLEV/A39V = TRIMV('T', TITLE, 39, ' ', 1, TITLEV);
        ALEN/I2 = LENV(TITLEV,ALEN);                                    
BY CATEGORY NOPRINT                                                    
WHERE CATEGORY EQ 'CHILDREN'
END

The output is:

TITLEV                                   ALEN
------                                   ----
SMURFS, THE                                11
SHAGGY DOG, THE                            15
SCOOBY-DOO-A DOG IN THE RUFF               28
ALICE IN WONDERLAND                        19
SESAME STREET-BEDTIME STORIES AND SONGS    39
ROMPER ROOM-ASK MISS MOLLY                 26
SLEEPING BEAUTY                            15
BAMBI                                       5