Tech Tip: Utility method to check if a string starts with another string

PRODUCT: 4D | VERSION: 19 | PLATFORM: Mac & Win

Published On: February 27, 2023

The method below determines whether or not the beginning of a string matches another string. The method is case-sensitive.

/*
METHOD: stringStartsWith
INPUT: 1st string to check the start of; 2nd string to compare with
OUTPUT: True if 1st string starts with 2nd string, otherwise False
NOTE: string comparison is case-sensitive
*/

#DECLARE($src : Text; $txt : Text)->$res : Boolean
var $str : Text
var $val : Integer

If (Count parameters=2)
   If (Length($txt)>Length($src))
     $res:=False
   Else
     $str:=Substring($src; 1; Length($txt))
     $val:=Compare strings($str; $txt; sk strict)
     If ($val=0)
       $res:=True
     Else
       $res:=False
     End if
   End if
End if

Examples:

stringStartsWith("Mr. Smith"; "Mr.") // True
stringStartsWith("Mr. Smith"; "mr.") // False