ABBREV

 ──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;