Transformation Language Reference > Functions > REPLACESTR

REPLACESTR

Replaces characters in a string with a single character, multiple characters, or no character. REPLACESTR searches the input string for all strings you specify and replaces them with the new string you specify.

Syntax

REPLACESTR ( CaseFlag, InputString, OldString1, [OldString2, ... OldStringN,] NewString )

The following table describes the arguments for this command:

Argument	Required/ Optional	Description
CaseFlag	Required	Must be an integer. Determines whether the arguments in this function are case sensitive. You can enter any valid transformation expression. When CaseFlag is a number other than 0, the function is case sensitive. When CaseFlag is a null value or 0, the function is not case sensitive.
InputString	Required	Must be a character string. Passes the strings you want to search. You can enter any valid transformation expression. If you pass a numeric value, the function converts it to a character string. If InputString is NULL, REPLACESTR returns NULL.
OldString	Required	Must be a character string. The string you want to replace. You must enter at least one OldString argument. You can enter one or more characters per OldString argument. You can enter any valid transformation expression. You can also enter a text literal enclosed within single quotation marks, for example, 'abc'. If you pass a numeric value, the function converts it to a character string. When REPLACESTR contains multiple OldString arguments, and one or more OldString arguments is NULL or empty, REPLACESTR ignores the OldString argument. When all OldString arguments are NULL or empty, REPLACESTR returns InputString. The function replaces the characters in the OldString arguments in the order they appear in the function. For example, if you enter multiple OldString arguments, the first OldString argument has precedence over the second OldString argument, and the second OldString argument has precedence over the third OldString argument. When REPLACESTR replaces a string, it places the cursor after the replaced characters in InputString before searching for the next match.
NewString	Required	Must be a character string. You can enter one character, multiple characters, an empty string, or NULL. You can enter any valid transformation expression. If NewString is NULL or empty, REPLACESTR removes all occurrences of OldString in InputString.

Return Value

String.

Empty string if REPLACESTR removes all characters in InputString.

NULL if InputString is NULL.

InputString if all OldString arguments are NULL or empty.

Examples

The following expression removes the double quotes and two different text strings from web log data for each row in the WEBLOG port:

REPLACESTR( 1, WEBLOG, '"', 'GET ', ' HTTP/1.1', NULL )

WEBLOG	RETURN VALUE
"GET /news/index.html HTTP/1.1"	/news/index.html
"GET /companyinfo/index.html HTTP/1.1"	/companyinfo/index.html
GET /companyinfo/index.html	/companyinfo/index.html
GET	[empty string]
NULL	NULL

The following expression changes the title for certain values for each row in the TITLE port:

REPLACESTR ( 1, TITLE, 'rs.', 'iss', 's.' )

TITLE	RETURN VALUE
Mrs.	Ms.
Miss	Ms.
Mr.	Mr.
MRS.	MRS.

The following expression changes the title for certain values for each row in the TITLE port:

REPLACESTR ( 0, TITLE, 'rs.', 'iss', 's.' )

TITLE	RETURN VALUE
Mrs.	Ms.
MRS.	Ms.

The following expression shows how the REPLACESTR function replaces multiple OldString arguments for each row in the INPUT port:

REPLACESTR ( 1, INPUT, 'ab', 'bc', '*' )

INPUT	RETURN VALUE
abc	*c
abbc	**
abbbbc	bb
bc	*

The following expression shows how the REPLACESTR function replaces multiple OldString arguments for each row in the INPUT port:

REPLACESTR ( 1, INPUT, 'ab', 'bc', 'b' )

INPUT	RETURN VALUE
ab	b
bc	b
abc	bc
abbc	bb
abbcc	bbc

When you want to use a single quote (') in either OldString or NewString, you must use the CHR function. Use both the CHR and CONCAT functions to concatenate a single quote onto a string. The single quote is the only character that cannot be used inside a string literal. Consider the following example:

CONCAT( 'Joan', CONCAT( CHR(39), 's car' ))

The return value is:

Joan's car

The following expression changes a string that includes the single quote, for each row in the INPUT port:

REPLACESTR ( 1, INPUT, CONCAT('it', CONCAT(CHR(39), 's' )), 'its' )

INPUT	RETURN VALUE
it's	its
mit's	mits
mits	mits
mits'	mits'