• <Helps for GetStart>
  • CSPro User's Guide
    • The CSPro System
    • Data Dictionary Module
    • The CSPro Language
    • Data Entry Module
    • Batch Editing Applications
    • Tabulation Applications
    • CSPro Statements and Functions
      • Statement Format Symbols
      • Alphabetical List of Functions and Statements
      • List of Reserved Words
      • Deprecated Features
      • Declaration Statements
      • Array Object
      • Audio Object
      • Barcode and QR Codes
      • Document Object
      • File Object
      • Freq Object
      • Geometry Object
      • HashMap Object
      • Image Object
      • List Object
      • Map Object
      • Path
      • Pff Object
      • SystemApp Object
      • ValueSet Object
      • Program Control Statements
      • Assignment Statements
      • Data Entry Statements and Functions
      • Batch Edit Statements
      • Numeric Functions
      • String Functions
        • Compare Function
        • Concat Function
        • String Concatenation Operator
        • Edit Function
        • GetBuffer Function
        • Length Function
        • MakeText Function
        • Message Formatting Options
        • Pos Function
        • PosChar Function
        • RegExMatch Function
        • Replace Function
        • StartsWith Function
        • Strip Function
        • ToLower Function
        • ToNumber Function
        • ToUpper Function
      • Multiple Occurrence Functions
      • General Functions
      • Date and Time Functions
      • External File Functions
      • Synchronization Functions
      • Export Attributes
    • Templated Reporting System
    • HTML and JavaScript Integration
    • Appendix
  • <Helps for CSEntry>
  • <Helps for CSBatch>
  • <Helps for CSTab>
  • <Helps for DataViewer>
  • <Helps for TextView>
  • <Helps for TblView>
  • <Helps for TRSWin>
  • <Helps for CSDeploy>
  • <Helps for CSPack>
  • <Helps for CSFreq>
  • <Helps for CSSort>
  • <Helps for CSExport>
  • <Helps for CSReFmt>
  • <Helps for CSDiff>
  • <Helps for CSConcat>
  • <Helps for TRSSetup>
  • <Helps for ParadataViewer>
  • <Helps for ParadataConcat>
  • <Helps for CSIndex>
  • <Helps for Excel2CSPro>
  • <Helps for CSWeb>

Compare Function

Format
i = compare(string1,string2);
Description
The compare function compares the two strings expressions string1 and string2 character by character to determine the alphabetical (collating sequence) order of the strings. If string1 and string2 are of different lengths, the function will pad the shorter string with blanks to carry out the comparison.
Return Value
The function returns an integer value of:
-1if string1 would be listed alphabetically before string2.
0if the strings are identical.
1if string1 would be listed alphabetically after string2.
Example
if compare(thisCaseKey,previousCaseKey) = -1 then
   
// ...
endif;
Direct string comparisons can also be made. For example, the following code is permissible:
if thisCaseKey < previousCaseKey then
   
// ...
endif;