Home icon
Home

LSET and RSET Statements

Purpose:

To move data from memory to a random-file buffer and left- or right-justify it in preparation for a PUT statement.

Syntax:

LSET string variable=string expression
RSET string variable=string expression

Comments:

If string expression requires fewer bytes than were fielded to string variable, LSET left-justifies the string in the field, and RSET right-justifies the string (spaces are used to pad the extra positions).

If the string is too long for the field, characters are dropped from the right.

To convert numeric values to strings before the LSET or RSET statement is used, see the MKI$, MKS$, and MKD$ functions.

LSET or RSET may also be used with a nonfielded string variable to left-justify or right-justify a string in a given field.

Examples:

110 A$=SPACE$(20)
120 RSET A$=N$

These two statements right-justify the string N$ in a 20-character field. This can be valuable for formatting printed output.