──ABBREV(information,info ─┬──────────┬─)─────────
└─,length──┘
ABBREV returns 1 if info is equal to the leading characters of information and the length of info is not less than length. ABBREV returns 0 if neither of these conditions is met.
If specified, length must be a nonnegative whole number. The default for length is the number of characters in info.
Here are some examples:
ABBREV('Print','Pri') -> 1
ABBREV('PRINT','Pri') -> 0
ABBREV('PRINT','PRI',4) -> 0
ABBREV('PRINT','PRY') -> 0
ABBREV('PRINT','') -> 1
ABBREV('PRINT','',1) -> 0
┴╓: A null string will always match if a length of 0 (or the default) is used. This allows a default keyword to be selected automatically if desired. For example:
say 'Enter option:'; pull option .
select /* keyword1 is to be the default */
when abbrev('keyword1',option) then ...
when abbrev('keyword2',option) then ...
...
otherwise nop;
end;