INSTR Function

Purpose:

To search for the first occurrence of string y$ in x$, and return the position at which the string is found.

Syntax:

INSTR([n,]x$,y$)

Comments:

Optional offset n sets the position for starting the search. The default value for n is 1. If n equals zero, the error message "Illegal argument in line number" is returned. n must be within the range of 1 to 255. If n is out of this range, an "Illegal Function Call" error is returned.

INSTR returns 0 if:

• n > LEN(x$)
• x$ is null
• y$ cannot be found

If y$ is null, INSTR returns n.

x$ and y$ may be string variables, string expressions, or string literals.

Examples:

10 X$="ABCDEBXYZ"
20 Y$="B"
30 PRINT INSTR(X$, Y$); INSTR(4, X$, Y$)
RUN
 2 6

The interpreter searches the string "ABCDFBXYZ" and finds the first occurrence of the character B at position 2 in the string. It then starts another search at position 4 (D) and finds the second match at position 6 (B). The last three characters are ignored, since all conditions set out in line 30 were satisfied.