| Package | Top Level | 
| Class | public final class String | 
| Inheritance | String    Object | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
String()
 function. 
 
 Because all string indexes are zero-based, the index of the last character 
 for any string x is x.length - 1.
 
 You can call any of the methods of the String class whether you use the constructor method
 new String() to create a new string variable or simply assign a string literal value. 
 Unlike previous versions of ActionScript, it makes no difference whether you use the constructor,
 the global function, or simply assign a string literal value. The following lines of code are equivalent:
 
 var str:String = new String("foo");
 var str:String = "foo";
 var str:String = String("foo");When setting a string variable to undefined, the Flash runtimes coerce undefined 
 to null. So, the statement:
var s:String = undefined;sets the value to
null instead of undefined. Use the String()
 function if you need to use undefined.
 See also
| Property | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
![]()  | constructor : Object 
	 A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.  | Object | |
| length : int [read-only] 
     An integer specifying the number of characters in the specified String object.  | String | ||
![]()  | prototype : Object [static] 
	 A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.  | Object | |
| Method | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
  Creates a new String object initialized to the specified string.  | String | ||
     Returns the character in the position specified by the index parameter.  | String | ||
     Returns the numeric Unicode character code of the character at the specified  
     index.  | String | ||
     Appends the supplied arguments to the end of the String object, converting them to strings if
     necessary, and returns the resulting string.  | String | ||
[static] 
    Returns a string comprising the characters represented by the Unicode character codes
    in the parameters.  | String | ||
![]()  | 
	 Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.  | Object | |
     Searches the string and returns the position of the first occurrence of val 
     found at or after startIndex within the calling string.  | String | ||
![]()  | 
	 Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified 
	 as the parameter.  | Object | |
     Searches the string from right to left and returns the index of the last occurrence 
     of val found before startIndex.  | String | ||
     Compares the sort order of two or more strings and returns the result of the comparison as an integer.  | String | ||
    Matches the specifed pattern against the 
    string.  | String | ||
![]()  | 
	 Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.  | Object | |
    Matches the specifed pattern against the string and returns a new string
    in which the first match of pattern is replaced with the content specified by repl.  | String | ||
    Searches for the specifed pattern and returns the index of 
    the first matching substring.  | String | ||
![]()  | 
     Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.  | Object | |
     Returns a string that includes the startIndex character 
     and all characters up to, but not including, the endIndex character.  | String | ||
     Splits a String object into an array of substrings 
     by dividing it wherever the specified delimiter parameter 
     occurs.  | String | ||
     Returns a substring consisting of the characters that start at the specified 
     startIndex and with a length specified by len.  | String | ||
     Returns a string consisting of the character specified by startIndex 
     and all characters up to endIndex - 1.  | String | ||
     Returns a copy of this string, with all uppercase characters converted
     to lowercase.  | String | ||
![]()  | 
	 Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.  | Object | |
     Returns a copy of this string, with all lowercase characters converted 
     to uppercase.  | String | ||
     Returns a copy of this string, with all uppercase characters converted
     to lowercase.  | String | ||
![]()  | 
	 Returns the string representation of the specified object.  | Object | |
     Returns a copy of this string, with all lowercase characters converted 
     to uppercase.  | String | ||
     Returns the primitive value of a String instance.  | String | ||
length | property | 
length:int  [read-only] | Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
An integer specifying the number of characters in the specified String object.
     Because all string indexes are zero-based, the index of the last character for any 
     string x is x.length - 1.
     
Implementation
    public function get length():intString | () | Constructor | 
public function String(val:String)| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Creates a new String object initialized to the specified string.
Note: Because string literals use less overhead than String objects and are generally easier to use, you should use string literals instead of the String class unless you have a good reason to use a String object rather than a string literal.
Parametersval:String — The initial value of the new String object.
  
   | 
charAt | () | method | 
 AS3 function charAt(index:Number = 0):String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns the character in the position specified by the index parameter. 
     If index is not a number from 0 to string.length - 1, an 
     empty string is returned.
     
     This method is similar to String.charCodeAt() except that the returned 
     value is a character, not a 16-bit integer character code.
     
Parameters
index:Number (default = 0) — An integer specifying the position of a character in the string. The first 
     character is indicated by 0, and the last character is indicated by 
     my_str.length - 1.
     
      | 
String — The character at the specified index. Or an empty string if the
     specified index is outside the range of this string's indices.
     
      | 
See also
charCodeAt | () | method | 
 AS3 function charCodeAt(index:Number = 0):Number| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns the numeric Unicode character code of the character at the specified  
     index. If index is not a number from 0 to 
     string.length - 1, NaN is returned.
     
     This method is similar to String.charAt() except that the returned 
     value is a 16-bit integer character code, not the actual character.
     
Parameters
index:Number (default = 0) — An integer that specifies the position of a character in the string. The 
     first character is indicated by 0, and the last character is indicated by 
     my_str.length - 1.
     
      | 
Number — The Unicode character code of the character at the specified index. Or 
     NaN if the index is outside the range of this string's indices.
     Unicode values are defined in the Unicode Character Database specification.  | 
See also
concat | () | method | 
 AS3 function concat(... args):String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Appends the supplied arguments to the end of the String object, converting them to strings if necessary, and returns the resulting string. The original value of the source String object remains unchanged.
Parameters
... args — Zero or more values to be concatenated.
     
      | 
String — A new string consisting of this string concatenated
     with the specified parameters.
     
      | 
fromCharCode | () | method | 
 AS3 static function fromCharCode(... charCodes):String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Returns a string comprising the characters represented by the Unicode character codes in the parameters.
Parameters
... charCodes — A series of decimal integers that represent Unicode values.
    Unicode values are defined in the Unicode Character Database specification.  | 
String — The string value of the specified Unicode character codes.
    
     | 
indexOf | () | method | 
 AS3 function indexOf(val:String, startIndex:Number = 0):int| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Searches the string and returns the position of the first occurrence of val 
     found at or after startIndex within the calling string. This index is zero-based, 
     meaning that the first character in a string is considered to be at index 0--not index 1. If 
     val is not found, the method returns -1.
     
     
Parameters
val:String — The substring for which to search.
     
      | |
startIndex:Number (default = 0) — An optional integer specifying the starting index of the search.
     
      | 
int — The index of the first occurrence of the specified substring or -1.
     
      | 
See also
lastIndexOf | () | method | 
 AS3 function lastIndexOf(val:String, startIndex:Number = 0x7FFFFFFF):int| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Searches the string from right to left and returns the index of the last occurrence 
     of val found before startIndex. The index is zero-based, 
     meaning that the first character is at index 0, and the last is at string.length
     - 1. If val is not found, the method returns -1.
     
     
Parameters
val:String — The string for which to search.
     
      | |
startIndex:Number (default = 0x7FFFFFFF) — An optional integer specifying the starting index from which to 
     search for val. The default is the maximum value allowed for an index. 
     If startIndex is not specified, the search starts at the last item in the string.
     
      | 
int — The position of the last occurrence of the specified substring or -1 if not found.
     
      | 
See also
localeCompare | () | method | 
 AS3 function localeCompare(other:String, ... values):int| Runtime Versions: | Flash Lite 4 | 
     Compares the sort order of two or more strings and returns the result of the comparison as an integer. While this
     method is intended to handle the comparison in a locale-specific way, the ActionScript 3.0 implementation
     does not produce a different result from other string comparisons such as the equality (==) or 
     inequality (!=) operators.
     If the strings are equivalent, the return value is 0.
     If the original string value precedes the string value specified by other, 
     the return value is a negative integer, the absolute value of which represents
     the number of characters that separates the two string values.
     If the original string value comes after other,
     the return value is a positive integer, the absolute value of which represents
     the number of characters that separates the two string values.
     
     
Parameters
other:String — A string value to compare.
      | |
... values — Optional set of more strings to compare.
      | 
int — The value 0 if the strings are equal. Otherwise, a negative integer if the original
     string precedes the string argument and a positive integer if the string argument precedes
     the original string. In both cases the absolute value of the number represents the difference
     between the two strings.
      
       | 
match | () | method | 
 AS3 function match(pattern:*):Array| Runtime Versions: | Flash Lite 4 | 
    Matches the specifed pattern against the 
    string.
    
    
Parameters
pattern:* — The pattern to match, which can be any type of object, but it is typically 
    either a string or a regular expression. If the pattern is not a regular expression
    or a string, then the method converts it to a string before executing. 
    
     | 
Array — An array of strings consisting of all substrings in 
    the string that match the specified pattern.
    
    If  
 If no match is found, the method returns an empty array. If you pass
    no value (or an undefined value) as the   | 
See also
replace | () | method | 
 AS3 function replace(pattern:*, repl:Object):String| Runtime Versions: | Flash Lite 4 | 
    Matches the specifed pattern against the string and returns a new string
    in which the first match of pattern is replaced with the content specified by repl. 
    The pattern parameter can be a string or a regular expression. The repl parameter
    can be a string or a function; if it is a function, the string returned  
    by the function is inserted in place of the match. The original string is not modified.
    
    
In the following example, only the first instance of "sh" (case-sensitive) is replaced:
    var myPattern:RegExp = /sh/;  
    var str:String = "She sells seashells by the seashore.";
    trace(str.replace(myPattern, "sch"));  
       // She sells seaschells by the seashore.In the following example, all instances of "sh" (case-sensitive)
    are replaced because the g (global) flag is set in the regular expression: 
    var myPattern:RegExp = /sh/g;  
    var str:String = "She sells seashells by the seashore.";
    trace(str.replace(myPattern, "sch"));  
       // She sells seaschells by the seaschore.In the following example, all instance of "sh" 
    are replaced because the g (global) flag is set in the regular expression 
    and the matches are not case-sensitive because the i (ignoreCase) flag is set:
    var myPattern:RegExp = /sh/gi;  
    var str:String = "She sells seashells by the seashore.";
    trace(str.replace(myPattern, "sch"));  
       // sche sells seaschells by the seaschore.Parameters
pattern:* — The pattern to match, which can be any type of object, but it is typically 
    either a string or a regular expression. If you specify a pattern parameter
    that is any object other than a string or a regular expression, the toString() method is 
    applied to the parameter and the replace() method executes using the resulting string 
    as the pattern. 
    
     | |||||||||||||||
repl:Object — Typically, the string that is inserted in place of the matching content. However, you can 
    also specify a function as this parameter. If you specify a function, the string returned  
    by the function is inserted in place of the matching content.
    
    When you specify a string as the  
 For example, the following shows the use of the  var str:String = "flip-flop";
    var pattern:RegExp = /(\w+)-(\w+)/g;
    trace(str.replace(pattern, "$2-$1")); // flop-flipWhen you specify a function as the  
 For example, consider the following: 
    var str1:String = "abc12 def34";
    var pattern:RegExp = /([a-z]+)([0-9]+)/;
    var str2:String = str1.replace(pattern, replFN);
    trace (str2);   // 12abc 34def
    
    function replFN():String {
      return arguments[2] + arguments[1];
    }The call to the  
    {"abc12", "abc", "12", 0, "abc12 def34"}The second time, the pattern matches the substring  
    {"def34", "def", "34", 6, "abc123 def34"} | 
String — The resulting string. Note that the source string remains unchanged.
    
     | 
See also
search | () | method | 
 AS3 function search(pattern:*):int| Runtime Versions: | Flash Lite 4 | 
    Searches for the specifed pattern and returns the index of 
    the first matching substring. If there is no matching substring, the method returns 
    -1.
    
    
Parameters
pattern:* — The pattern to match, which can be any type of object but is typically 
    either a string or a regular expression.. If the pattern is not a regular expression
    or a string, then the method converts it to a string before executing. 
    Note that if you specify a regular expression, the method ignores the global flag ("g") of the 
    regular expression, and it ignores the lastIndex property of the regular
    expression (and leaves it unmodified). If you pass an undefined value (or no value), 
    the method returns -1.
    
     | 
int — The index of the first matching substring, or -1 if 
    there is no match. Note that the string is zero-indexed; the first character of 
    the string is at index 0, the last is at string.length - 1. 
    
     | 
See also
slice | () | method | 
 AS3 function slice(startIndex:Number = 0, endIndex:Number = 0x7fffffff):String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns a string that includes the startIndex character 
     and all characters up to, but not including, the endIndex character. The original String object is not modified. 
     If the endIndex parameter is not specified, then the end of the 
     substring is the end of the string. If the character indexed by startIndex is the same as or to the right of the 
     character indexed by endIndex, the method returns an empty string.
     
     
     
Parameters
startIndex:Number (default = 0) — The zero-based index of the starting point for the slice. If 
     startIndex is a negative number, the slice is created from right-to-left, where 
     -1 is the last character.
     
      | |
endIndex:Number (default = 0x7fffffff) — An integer that is one greater than the index of the ending point for 
     the slice. The character indexed by the endIndex parameter is not included in the extracted 
     string.  
     If endIndex is a negative number, the ending point is determined by 
     counting back from the end of the string, where -1 is the last character.
     The default is the maximum value allowed for an index. If this parameter is omitted, String.length is used.
     
      | 
String — A substring based on the specified indices.
     
      | 
See also
split | () | method | 
 AS3 function split(delimiter:*, limit:Number = 0x7fffffff):Array| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Splits a String object into an array of substrings 
     by dividing it wherever the specified delimiter parameter 
     occurs. 
     
     
If the delimiter parameter is a regular expression, only 
     the first match at a given position of the string is considered, 
     even if backtracking could find a nonempty substring match at that
     position. For example:
     var str:String = "ab";
     var results:Array = str.split(/a*?/); // results == ["","b"]
     
     results = str.split(/a*/); // results == ["","b"].)If the delimiter parameter is a regular expression 
     containing grouping parentheses, then each time the 
     delimiter is matched, the results (including any 
     undefined results) of the grouping parentheses are spliced into the
     output array. For example
     var str:String = "Thi5 is a tricky-66 example.";
     var re:RegExp = /(\d+)/;
     var results:Array = str.split(re);
         // results == ["Thi","5"," is a tricky-","66"," example."]If the limit parameter is specified, then 
     the returned array will have no more than the specified 
     number of elements.
If the delimiter is an empty string, an empty 
     regular expression, or a regular expression that can match an empty 
     string, each single character in the string 
     is output as an element in the array.
If the delimiter parameter is undefined, the entire 
     string is placed into the first element of the returned 
     array. 
Parameters
delimiter:* — The pattern that specifies where to split this string. This can be any type of 
     object but is typically either a string or a regular expression. If the delimiter 
     is not a regular expression or string, then the method converts it to a string before executing. 
     
      | |
limit:Number (default = 0x7fffffff) — The maximum number of items to place into the array. 
     The default is the maximum value allowed. 
     
     
      | 
Array — An array of substrings.
     
     
     
      | 
See also
substr | () | method | 
 AS3 function substr(startIndex:Number = 0, len:Number = 0x7fffffff):String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns a substring consisting of the characters that start at the specified 
     startIndex and with a length specified by len. The original
     string is unmodified.
     
     
Parameters
startIndex:Number (default = 0) — An integer that specified the index of the first character to be 
     used to create the substring. If startIndex is a negative number, the 
     starting index is determined from the end of the string, where -1 is the 
     last character.
     
      | |
len:Number (default = 0x7fffffff) — The number of characters in the substring being created. 
     The default value is the maximum value allowed. If len 
     is not specified, the substring includes all the characters from startIndex
     to the end of the string.
     
      | 
String — A substring based on the specified parameters.
     
      | 
substring | () | method | 
 AS3 function substring(startIndex:Number = 0, endIndex:Number = 0x7fffffff):String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns a string consisting of the character specified by startIndex 
     and all characters up to endIndex - 1. If endIndex is not 
     specified, String.length is used. If the value of startIndex 
     equals the value of endIndex, the method returns an empty string.
     If the value of startIndex is greater than the value of 
     endIndex, the parameters are automatically swapped before the function 
     executes. The original string is unmodified.
     
     
Parameters
startIndex:Number (default = 0) — An integer specifying the index of the first character used to create 
     the substring. Valid values for startIndex are 0 through 
     String.length. If startIndex is a negative value, 0
      is used.
     
      | |
endIndex:Number (default = 0x7fffffff) — An integer that is one greater than the index of the last character in the
     extracted substring. Valid values for endIndex are 0 through 
     String.length. The character at endIndex is not included in 
     the substring. The default is the maximum value allowed for an index. 
     If this parameter is omitted, String.length is used. If 
     this parameter is a negative value, 0 is used.
     
      | 
String — A substring based on the specified parameters.
     
      | 
toLocaleLowerCase | () | method | 
 AS3 function toLocaleLowerCase():String| Runtime Versions: | Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns a copy of this string, with all uppercase characters converted
     to lowercase. The original string is unmodified. While this
     method is intended to handle the conversion in a locale-specific way, the ActionScript 3.0 implementation
     does not produce a different result from the toLowerCase() method.
     
     
String — A copy of this string with all uppercase characters converted
     to lowercase.
     
      | 
See also
toLocaleUpperCase | () | method | 
 AS3 function toLocaleUpperCase():String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns a copy of this string, with all lowercase characters converted 
     to uppercase. The original string is unmodified. While this
     method is intended to handle the conversion in a locale-specific way, the ActionScript 3.0 implementation
     does not produce a different result from the toUpperCase() method.
     
     
String — A copy of this string with all lowercase characters converted
     to uppercase.
     
      | 
See also
toLowerCase | () | method | 
 AS3 function toLowerCase():String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Returns a copy of this string, with all uppercase characters converted to lowercase. The original string is unmodified.
This method converts all characters (not simply A-Z) for which Unicode lowercase equivalents exist:
     var str:String = " JOSÉ BARÇA";
     trace(str.toLowerCase()); // josé barçaThese case mappings are defined in the Unicode Character Database specification.
ReturnsString — A copy of this string with all uppercase characters converted
     to lowercase.
     
      | 
See also
toUpperCase | () | method | 
 AS3 function toUpperCase():String| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
Returns a copy of this string, with all lowercase characters converted to uppercase. The original string is unmodified.
This method converts all characters (not simply a-z) for which Unicode uppercase equivalents exist:
     var str:String = "José Barça";
     trace(str.toUpperCase()); // JOSÉ BARÇAThese case mappings are defined in the Unicode Character Database specification.
ReturnsString — A copy of this string with all lowercase characters converted
     to uppercase.
     
     
      | 
See also
valueOf | () | method | 
 AS3 function valueOf():String| Language Version: | ActionScript 3.0 | 
| Runtime Versions: | AIR 1.0 Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4 | 
     Returns the primitive value of a String instance. This method is designed to
     convert a String object into a primitive string value. Because Flash runtimes 
     automatically call valueOf() when necessary, 
     you rarely need to call this method explicitly.
     
     
String — The value of the string.
     
      | 
- The constructor for StringExample declares several local String instances, which are initialized with various strings and a new StringHelper object.
 - The StringHelper class has the following methods:
    
replace(): calls thesplit()andjoin()methods of String to remove a substring of the string passed in with a new one.trim(): calls bothtrimBack()andtrimFront()using the strings passed in and returns the updated string.trimFront():recursively removes all characters that match thecharparameter, starting from the front of the string and working toward the end, until the first character in the string does not matchcharand returns the updated string.trimBack(): recursively removes all characters that match thecharparameter, starting from the end of the string and working backward, until the last character in the string does not matchcharand returns the updated string.stringToCharacter(): returns the first character of the string passed to it.
 - Three strings are then produced using the declared string variables with a call to the
     
replace()method used to produce the second string andtrim()to produce the third string. 
package {
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    public class StringExample extends Sprite {
        public function StringExample() {
            var companyStr:String = new String("     Company X");
            var productStr:String = "Product Z Basic     ";
            var emptyStr:String = " ";
            var strHelper:StringHelper = new StringHelper();
            var companyProductStr:String = companyStr + emptyStr + productStr;
            trace("'" + companyProductStr + "'");    // '     Company X Product Z Basic     '
            companyProductStr = strHelper.replace(companyProductStr, "Basic", "Professional");
            trace("'" + companyProductStr + "'");    // '     Company X Product Z Professional     '
            companyProductStr = strHelper.trim(companyProductStr, emptyStr);
            trace("'" + companyProductStr + "'");    // 'Company X Product Z Professional'
        }
    }
}
class StringHelper {
    public function StringHelper() {
    }
    public function replace(str:String, oldSubStr:String, newSubStr:String):String {
        return str.split(oldSubStr).join(newSubStr);
    }
    public function trim(str:String, char:String):String {
        return trimBack(trimFront(str, char), char);
    }
    public function trimFront(str:String, char:String):String {
        char = stringToCharacter(char);
        if (str.charAt(0) == char) {
            str = trimFront(str.substring(1), char);
        }
        return str;
    }
    public function trimBack(str:String, char:String):String {
        char = stringToCharacter(char);
        if (str.charAt(str.length - 1) == char) {
            str = trimBack(str.substring(0, str.length - 1), char);
        }
        return str;
    }
    public function stringToCharacter(str:String):String {
        if (str.length == 1) {
            return str;
        }
        return str.slice(0, 1);
    }
}
Thu May 20 2010, 02:19 AM -07:00

 
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