What does it do? Calls a string function func as an SQL expression or operand of an expression in AB_SQL . The arguments arg1, arg2, ... of the function are specified as a comma-separated list in parentheses. A blank must be placed after the opening parenthesis and in front of the closing parenthesis. The following table shows the string functions that can be specified as SQL expressions and the requirements on the arguments. The value x in the Table Buffer column indicates that the function can be executed in the table buffer and that the use of this function does not bypass table buffering. SyntaxMeaningValid Argument TypesResult Type Table Buffer CONCAT( sql_exp1,sql_exp2 ) Concatenates strings in sql_exp1 and sql_exp2. Trailing blanks in sql_exp1, sql_exp2, and in the result are ignored. The maximum length of the result is 1333. See belowSSTRING if an argument has the type SSTRING, otherwise CHAR with the length of the result.x CONCAT_WITH_SPACE( sql_exp1,sql_exp2 ,spaces ) Concatenates strings in sql_exp1 and sql_exp2 as with CONCAT. The number of blanks specified in spaces is inserted between sql_exp1 and sql_exp2. The maximum length of the result is 1333. sql_exp2: see below lbr lbr spaces: Literal or host constant with the ABAP type b, s, i , or int8 greater than 0 and less than or equal to 1333 SSTRING if an argument has the type SSTRING, otherwise CHAR with the length of the result.x INITCAP( sql_exp ) String with a length of sql_exp, in which the first letter of a word is transformed to uppercase, and all other letters are transformed to lowercase. A word is delimited by the following: beginning of a string, blank space, new line, form feed, carriage return, line feed, and anything after ! ' # $ % ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? @ [ ] ^ _ ` { | } ~. See below SSTRING if sql_exp has the type SSTRING, otherwise CHAR with the length of sql_exp - INSTR( sql_exp,sub ) Position of the first occurrence of the string from sub in sql_exp (case-sensitive). sql_exp respects leading blanks and ignores trailing blanks. sub respects all blanks. sub must contain at least one character. If no occurrences are found, the result is 0. sql_exp: see below lbr lbr sub: Literal or host constant with the ABAP type c, n, d , or tINT4- LEFT( sql_exp,len ) String of the length len with the len left characters of sql_exp (ignoring the trailing blanks). The value of len cannot be greater than the length of sql_exp. sql_exp : see below lbr lbr len: SQL expression with the ABAP type b, s , i , or int8 greater than 0 and less than or equal to 1333 SSTRING if sql_exp has the type SSTRING, otherwise CHAR with the length of the resultx LENGTH( sql_exp ) Number of characters in sql_exp ignoring trailing blanksSee below INT4x LIKE_REGEXPR( pcre = pcre, lbr value = sql_exp$[, lbr case_sensitive = case$] ) Checks whether sql_exp contains any occurrence of a Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) pcre and returns 1 if yes and 0 if no. The search is case-sensitive by default, but this can be overridden using the parameter case.pcre: see below lbr sql_exp: see below lbr case: 'X', ' ', or null expression INT4- LOCATE( sql_exp, sub$[, start$[,occ$]$] ) Returns the position of a substring sub in sql_exp (case-sensitive). Both sql_exp and sub respect all blanks and must contain at least one character. start and occ are optional parameters. occ can only be specified if start is specified. start specifies the offset from which to start the search, and occ determines the number of occurrences. lbr lbr Notes on the result: lbr If no occurrences are found or occ is less than 1, the result is 0. lbr If sql_exp, sub or occ are specified as null value, the result is 0. lbr If start is greater than 0, the matching is carried out starting from this position. lbr If start is 0, NULL or not specified, the matching is carried out starting from the first position. A setting of 1 for start has the same effect. lbr If start is less than 0, the starting position is the end of the string, i. e. if start is -2, the starting position is the second to last character of the string. The matching then goes in the reverse direction from right to left. lbr If occ is specified, the matched position is returned. If no match is found with the specified occurrence, the result is 0. lbr If occ is not specified, the first matched position is returned. A setting of 1 for occ is the same as not specifying it. sql_exp: see below lbr lbr sub: Literal or host constant with the ABAP type c, n, d , or t, or null expression lbr lbr occ : i or int8 lbr lbr start: i or int8 INT4- LOCATE_REGEXPR( pcre = pcre, lbr value = sql_exp$[, lbr occurrence = occ$]$[, lbr case_sensitive = case$]$[, lbr start = start$]$[, lbr group = group$] ) Searches sql_exp for a Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) pattern pcre and returns the offset of the match. The other parameters are optional. occ determines the number of occurrences of pcre. The search is case-sensitive by default, but this can be overridden using the parameter case. The parameter start specifies the offset from which to start the search. The parameter group specifies the number of the group of the matched substring. lbr lbr If occ is not greater than 0 or start or group are less than 0, the result is a null value. pcre: see below lbr lbr sql_exp : see below lbr lbr occ : Literal or host constant with the ABAP type b, s, i , or int8 greater than 0 and less than or equal to 1333; expressions are also possible if they return an integer of type INT4 lbr lbr case: 'X', ' ', or null expression lbr lbr start: i or int8 lbr lbr group : i or int8INT4- LOCATE_REGEXPR_AFTER( pcre = pcre, lbr value = sql_exp$[, lbr occurrence = occ$]$[, lbr case_sensitive = case$]$[, lbr start = start$]$[, lbr group = group$] ) Searches sql_exp for a Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) pattern pcre and returns the offset of the match plus 1. The other parameters are optional. occ determines the number of occurrences of pcre. The search is case-sensitive by default, but this can be overridden using the parameter case. The parameter start specifies the offset from which to start the search. The parameter group specifies the number of the group of the matched substring. lbr lbr If occ is not greater than 0 or start or group are less than 0, the result is a null value. pcre: see below lbr lbr sql_exp : see below lbr lbr occ : Literal or host constant with the ABAP type b, s, i , or int8 greater than 0 and less than or equal to 1333; expressions are also possible if they return an integer of type INT4 lbr lbr case: 'X', ' ', or null expression lbr lbr start: i or int8 lbr lbr group : i or int8INT4- LOWER( sql_exp ) String with a length of sql_exp, in which all uppercase letters are transformed to lowercase letters. See below SSTRING if
