Splitting a String

Often, it becomes the case that it is necessary to separate a string into some number of pieces. Custom blocks allow for a flexible method to accomplish this. There are two major types of string splitting: splitting into two at a point, and splitting into a list at a certain character (often used with spaces, to split into words).

Splitting Into Two Variables

For this script, three variables need to be defined:

• (letter) — a variable used for iterating through the string
• (split 1) — the variable containing the first part of the string
• (split 2) — the variable containing the second part of the string

The following script splits a string into two. For example, if the string is split after letter 3, letters 1-3 will be a separate string from letters 4+. For this tutorial, assume the following:

define split string [string] after character (character)
set [letter v] to (0) //begins at the beginning
set [split 1 v] to [] //set it to nothing
set [split 2 v] to []
set [error v] to [false]
if <(character) < ((length of (string)) + (1))> then
 repeat (character)
  change [letter v] by (1)
  set [split 1 v] to (join (split 1) (letter (letter) of (string)))
 end
 repeat ((length of (string)) - (character))
  change [letter v] by (1)
  set [split 2 v] to (join (split 2) (letter (letter) of (string)))
 end
else
 set [error v] to [true]

Splitting Into List

For this script, three variables and a list will be needed.

• (letter) - used to iterate through the string
• (split 1) - used to store the first part of the string
• (split 2) - used to store the second part of the string
• (split::list) - the end result

define split string [string] after character (character)
set [letter v] to (0) //begins at the beginning
set [split 1 v] to [] //set it to nothing
set [split 2 v] to []
set [error v] to [false]
delete all of [split v]
if <(character) < ((length of (string)) + (1))> then
 repeat (character)
  change [letter v] by (1)
  set [split 1 v] to (join (split 1) (letter (letter) of (string)))
 end
 add (split 1) to [split v]
 repeat ((length of (string)) - (character))
  change [letter v] by (1)
  set [split 2 v] to (join (split 2) (letter (letter) of (string)))
 end
 add (split 2) to [split v]
else
 set [error v] to [true]