String Functions??

[timeshifter]

Simple problem: Two text boxes, conveniently labled txtText and txtCode. Two command buttons, labled cmdEncode and cmdDecode.

Take a guess what I need. I don't konw enough about string functions, but I need it to go through the string and replace "a" with "1-", "b" with "2-", and so on and so forth. Shouldn't be hard, but I haven't programmed in months and I'm a little rusty..

[Shaggy Hiker]

Isn't there a Replace function?

[Cander]

I'm a little rusty..

Im a little Chris.



Replace(stringofdata, data to replace, what to replace it with)

[timeshifter]

I'm assuming your "data to replace" and "data to replace with" are both strings in quotes?

[Cander]

yes

[Xcoder]

youre right, or a string variable.

[timeshifter]

Too many variables in the replace function.. what do they all mean?

[TalonSoftware]

Here's how I undid it.....

Private Sub cmdDecode_Click()
Dim myCode As String
Dim CodeChar As String
Dim intCount As Integer
Dim Needle As String
Dim intLetterNum As Integer
 
    myCode = txtCode.Text
    
    intLetterNum = Asc("Z")
    
    For intCount = 26 To 1 Step -1
        CodeChar = Chr$(intLetterNum) 'This is what the "code" will be (letters Z through A)
        Needle = CStr(intCount) & "-" 'Needle is the item being looked for... a number followed by a dash.
        
        myCode = Replace(myCode, Needle, CodeChar) 'In MyCode, replace all ocurrances of Needle with CodeChar
        
        Needle = CStr(intCount) & " " ' Not all numbers were followed by a dash, some had a space.
        
        myCode = Replace(myCode, Needle, CodeChar & " ")
        
        Needle = CStr(intCount) & "." 'While others were followed by a period
        
        myCode = Replace(myCode, Needle, CodeChar & ".")
        
        intLetterNum = intLetterNum - 1 'Back up one letter; Z, y, X.... C, B, A
    Next
    
    txtText.Text = myCode
      
End Sub

Ok, now for the why I went Z to A instead of the other way around.
Simple.
Consider this: 1-14-4-
1- = A
14- = N
4- = D

If I replace all 1- with "A", I get A14-4-
If I were to then replace 4- with "D", I'd get A1DD..... which isn't right.
But in working in reverse:
IF I replace 14- with "N" I'm left with 1-N4-
I can then safely (and correctly) replace 4- with "D" to get 1-ND
And finally replacing 1- with "A" gives me the final AND.

[timeshifter]

I'm still having problems getting it to actually encode it... There is a replace function, but I dont' know what numbers I need in the command for it to register. It keeps telling me I'm missing something, but I can't figure out where.

[leinad31]

Run em backwards from highest to lowest

14-
4-
1-

That way, 14- was already replaced by a char so the error on 4- is avoided with Replace()

[timeshifter]

I still can't get the Replace() function to work. That's my big question. Once I get that, I can solve the rest of it. The only problem is that I can't figure out the syntax for the function.

[leinad31]

And unless you provide sample of the raw, encoded and decoded strings, we can only guess what your trying to achieve.

Someone mentioned spaces and periods were also used.

[timeshifter]

All I need is the syntax to make Replace() work. When that's done, I'll put up the entire program so you can see how I did it. Syntax is all I need right now, and the VB Index isn't being that helpful.

[leinad31]

Replace(expression, find, replacewith[, start[, count[, compare]]])

expression Required.String expression containing substring to replace.
find Required. Substring being searched for.
replacewith Required. Replacement substring.
start Optional. Position within expression where substring search is to begin. If omitted, 1 is assumed.
count Optional. Number of substring substitutions to perform. If omitted, the default value is –1, which means make all possible substitutions.
compare Optional. Numeric value indicating the kind of comparison to use when evaluating substrings. See Settings section for values.

Settings
vbUseCompareOption or –1 Performs a comparison using the setting of the Option Compare statement.
vbBinaryCompare or 0 Performs a binary comparison.
vbTextCompare or 1 Performs a textual comparison.
vbDatabaseCompare or 2 Microsoft Access only. Performs a comparison based on information in your database.

[timeshifter]

Now make it fully work without VB telling you that you are missing = somewhere.

[leinad31]

So what's the problem? Your only going to get errors if you

- didn't pass the required data type
- you passed a wrong data type
- you didn't store the result of Replace, strRet = Replace(), and you didn't use Call

Your replacing all instances so start and count options are irrelevant and should be left with default values.

Sample code for usage was already posted.



I strongly suggest you post your code if your still getting errors.

[TalonSoftware]

Originally posted by timeshifter
Now make it fully work without VB telling you that you are missing = somewhere.

Dude, replace is a function....
varable = Replace(haystack, needle, replaceWith)
Simple.... did you not look at the code that I posted? It clearly used the replace function.

haystack = the variable/string you want to search in
needle = the variable/string you are looking for
replaceWith = the variable/string to replace your needle with when needle is found in haystack.

[timeshifter]

Sorry, brain freeze. Haven't programmed in a while, and I've forgotten some of the stuff. My apologies, Talon.