Name

position — returns the index of an element within an array or string

Synopsis

position ( element any ,
  array any ,
  start_index integer (optional, default 1) ,
  step integer (optional, default 1) );
 

Description

position returns the one-based index for the first occurrence of element within an array or string, beginning from offset start_index and iterating with step. If the second argument is a string, the first argument must be a string with a single character. If the second argument is an array of any, then depending of type of it's elements same type is expected as the first argument.

Parameters

element

any, depends of type of elements in second argument.

array

array, vector or string.

start_index

integer index beginning from 1; from where to start search.

step

integer the step between elements to be tested; default is 1 (every element)

Return Values

An integer index in array starting from 1; if not found returns zero.

Errors

Table 24.67. Errors signalled by position

SQLState Error Code Error Text Description
22003 SR061 position: expects a vector whose length is divisible by [step], not of length [actual len].  
22023 SR000 position expects an array or vector, not an arg of type %d.  

Examples

Example 24.269. Simple examples

SQL> select position ('b', 'Abacus');
callret
VARCHAR
_______________________________________________________________________________

2

1 Rows. -- 3 msec.
SQL> select position (2, vector ('Primero', null, 2, 3.333));
callret
VARCHAR
_______________________________________________________________________________

3

1 Rows. -- 4 msec.

SQL> select position ('a', 'babaab', 1, 2);
                                ^--- matches 5-th as other 'a' are skipped as step is 2 chars
callret
INTEGER
_______________________________________________________________________________

5

1 Rows. -- 4 msec.
      

See Also

vector aset aref ascii


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