UDF Help Please

Question

Hi,
I have a scenario where I have input strings. Within this string there are up to 10 characters (it can be 8, 6, 4, 2, or 0), all of which are 2 character codes. So for example my string may be
abcdefghij
within the above the 2 character codes would be
ab,cd,ef,gh,ij
Now I have a basket of codes that could be present in the above string. Lets say I have 10 codes. So what I need to do is assess the string and see if any of my basket of codes exists within that string. If any one of the 10 2 character codes exist then I want to return confirmation string "Present" the none of the codes are found then I want to return "Not Found".
Could someone help me with this logic for the UDF?
Thank you and points will be rewarded of course.
SA

Answer 1

Hi SA,
            You have not specified if the basket of codes are being supplied as input to the UDF or not. In case they are not being supplied as input field please follow this UDF
public  String codes(String s,Container container)
          try
               String codes[]={"ab","fg","yy"};
               int i,length=0,j;
               if(s!=null && s!="")
                    //test if string is null
                    length=s.length();
               if(length<=0)
                    return "Not Found";
               for(i=0,j=i+2;j<length;i=j+1,j=i+2)
                    //check presence of 2 charcater code
                    // break original string into 2 chars each.
                    String temp=s.substring(i,j);
                                                                                //now compare with basket od values
                    for(int k=0;k<codes.length;++k)
                         if(temp.equals(codes[k]))
                              return "Present";
          catch(Exception e)
               e.printStackTrace();
          return "Not Found";
Thus if your input is
abcdefghij
the UDF breaks it into pieces as follows ab|cd|ef|gh|ij
the basket is String codes[]={"ab","fg","yy"};
output you get is "Present"
again for the same input string
if the basket of codes is      String codes[]={"kk","fg","yy"};
output you get is "Not Found"   (as "fg" are not in same segment.).
Please kindly modify the basket of codes in the above UDF as per your requirement. so for ten different codes the string might be
String codes[]={"ab","cd","ef","gh","ij","kl","mn","op","qr","uu"}
In case the basket of codes is an input itself then you can input this as an array of strings to the UDF
public  String codes(String s,String codes[],Container container)
          try
               int i,length=0,j;
               if(s!=null && s!="")
                    //test if string is null
                    length=s.length();
               if(length<=0)
                    return "Not Found";
               for(i=0,j=i+2;j<length;i=j+1,j=i+2)
                    //check presence of 2 charcater code
                    // break original string into 2 chars each.
                    String temp=s.substring(i,j);
                    for(int k=0;k<codes.length;++k)
                         if(temp.equals(codes[k]))
                              return "Present";
          catch(Exception e)
               e.printStackTrace();
          return "Not Found";
Regards
Anupam
Edited by: anupamsap on Feb 6, 2012 4:58 PM