{"id":1569,"date":"2012-05-06T04:08:38","date_gmt":"2012-05-05T22:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.automationrepository.com\/?p=1569"},"modified":"2012-05-06T04:09:04","modified_gmt":"2012-05-05T22:39:04","slug":"vbscript-string-manipulation-functions-with-examples-in-qtp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.automationrepository.com\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/vbscript-string-manipulation-functions-with-examples-in-qtp\/","title":{"rendered":"Common string manipulation functions that you would be using almost daily in QTP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This article (and few more upcoming articles on VBScript Function Reference) is an extension of the QTP VBScript Tutorial<\/a> series that we had started sometime back. In this article, you would see some of the important and common VBScript string manipulation functions that you would most likely be using almost daily while working with QTP. We will explain each of these functions in depth using examples and code snippets.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/span> This article is primarily targeted towards QTP beginners who have just started their journey with QTP and are not aware about the various inbuilt QTP and VBScript functions available for their use. If you are a QTP\/VBScript expert or have spent good amount of time on the tool, you would most probably be aware of all these functions. So you can skip this article or can go through it as a quick refresher.
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Why this article?<\/h3>\n

There is a reason why this article is here and why it is specifically targeted towards QTP beginners. When I started my journey with Test Automation and QTP, I started working on a project with very little exposure to QTP. It was basically a “learn while you do” sort of job (of course I had experienced people in my team helping me in case I got stuck somewhere). This was the time when I had little practical exposure of QTP and VBScript. Many a times I faced situations where I had to write some small flow and I would actually start writing a function for the same without knowing that there already exists an in-built function for that. I would be later told by my team during code reviews (or if I got stuck somewhere) that the logic I have written can be done in a single line using in-built functions.<\/p>\n

If you are beginning to learn QTP, I’m sure that you would also be facing similar sort of situations. This article (and the upcoming series on VBScript function reference) is an attempt to help you understand and have an idea about the different inbuilt functions that you would be using very frequently while scripting. Moreover, rather than just presenting (and explaining) this list of common functions, we will try to come up with appropriate real life scenarios where you will be using these functions.<\/strong> This would help you understand these concepts and their application in a better manner.
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Classification of VBScript Function Library<\/h3>\n

For the ease of understanding, we will divide the entire VBScript function library that we use in QTP into following four types –<\/p>\n

\"QTP<\/p>\n

Let’s now start with VBScript string manipulation functions that we use in QTP.
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Len Function<\/h3>\n

Purpose: <\/strong>This function can be used in QTP to find the length of a string. That is, this VBScript function finds out the number of characters present in a string.<\/p>\n

Syntax: <\/strong>Len(string)
\nWith this function, you can directly pass a string as an argument or you can pass a variable also.<\/p>\n

Example: <\/strong>Let us suppose that you want to create a random number in QTP<\/a> of length 6<\/strong>. Let’s see how Len function can be used here.<\/strong> The below sample script shows some generic examples as well as the real life example (discussed above) on how you can use Len function.<\/p>\n

\r\n'========== Generic Example ==========\r\n'Use string in Len function\r\nmsgbox Len("automation repository") 'msgbox displays value 21\r\n\r\n'Using a variable as a parameter in Len function\r\nsVar = "automation repository"\r\nmsgbox Len(sVar) 'msgbox displays value 21\r\n'\r\n'\r\n'========== Real Life Scenario ==========\r\n'Find Random Number of length 6\r\nRandomize\r\niTmp = Int((999999 * Rnd) + 1)\r\n\r\n'Find the Length of iTmp\r\niLen = Len(iTmp)\r\n\r\n'Add trailing zeros at the end of random number in case the Length is less that 6\r\niRandomNumber = iTmp * (10^(6 - iLen))\r\n<\/pre>\n
In the above example, you would see that the function Rnd returns a value that is between 0 and 1. That is, the value returned can be 0.5, 0.038, 0.00046 and so on. So when we get the random number, its length can be 6 or less than 6. If the length is less that 6 (which we find out using Len function), we can then append zero’s at the end of the random number to get a 6 digit number.
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LCase Function<\/h3>\n
Purpose: <\/strong>Using LCase function, you can convert all the characters in a string into lowercase. For example, LCase function will convert “AuTOmATioN-1234” to “automation-1234”. You can see here that it is not necessary that the string you want to use should have characters only. This function just converts the upper case letters to lower case and ignores the rest of the characters, numbers etc.<\/p>\n
Syntax: <\/strong>LCase(string)<\/p>\n
Example: <\/strong>Consider a scenario where you have to perform some action based on some user input. If the user input is “Yes”, then you need to perform the action, else you don’t. Now, it is not necessary that the user will always provide the value “Yes”. User input can be “YES”, “yes”, “yEs” and so on. Also please keep in mind that in VBScript, “Yes” is not equal to “YES”.<\/strong> Let’s see how this can be done in normal way and how LCase function can simplify your job in this scenario.<\/p>\n
\r\n'========== Normal Method ==========\r\nsUserInput = {Get user input}\r\n\r\n'Check if user input is yes or not\r\nIf sUserInput = "Yes" or sUserInput = "yes" or sUserInput = "YES" or sUserInput = "YEs" Then ' and so on........\r\n   'Do the required action\r\nEnd If\r\n\r\n'\r\n'\r\n'========== Use LCase Method ==========\r\nsUserInput = {Get user input}\r\n\r\nIf LCase(sUserInput) = "yes" Then 'LCase will convert all the possible combinations to lower case\r\n   'Do the required action\r\nEnd If\r\n<\/pre>\n

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UCase Function<\/h3>\n
Purpose: <\/strong>You can use VBScript UCase function to convert all the characters in a string to uppercase. This function works the same way as LCase function, the only difference being that it will convert the characters into uppercase. For example – this function will convert “auTOmaTion+123” to “AUTOMATION+123”.<\/p>\n
Syntax: <\/strong>UCase(string)<\/p>\n
Example: <\/strong> This function can also be used for the same scenario that we discussed for LCase function.<\/p>\n
\r\nsUserInput = {Get user input}\r\n\r\nIf UCase(sUserInput) = "YES" Then\r\n   'Do the required action\r\nEnd If\r\n<\/pre>\n

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Trim, LTrim and RTrim Functions<\/h3>\n
Purpose: <\/strong>In QTP, Trim<\/span> function can be used to remove the blank spaces from the beginning and end of a string. For example, Trim(” automation repository “) would return “automation repository”. So here, the function Trim removed all the blank spaces from the beginning and end of the string.<\/p>\n
LTrim<\/span> (can also be called Left Trim) function removes the blank spaces from the left, ie the beginning of the string. So LTrim(” automation repository “) would return “automation repository ”<\/p>\n
You can use RTrim<\/span> (also called Right Trim) function in QTP remove the blank spaces from the right side or the end of the string. RTrim(” automation repository “) would return ” automation repository”<\/p>\n
Syntax: <\/strong>Trim(string), LTrim(string), RTrim(string)<\/p>\n
Example: <\/strong>Many a times, when you extract some value from a WebElement or a table cell, you would notice that the string that you have extracted may contain leading or trailing blank spaces. Now, if you don’t remove these spaces from the string and compare this string with some value, the script would not match the strings because of the blank spaces. So in such situations you would need to use VBScript Trim function.<\/p>\n
The below example shows the sample code where you need to compare the value from a WebElement with some value from the data sheet.<\/p>\n
\r\nDim iDataFromApplication, iDataFromDataSheet\r\n\r\n'Retrieve both the values\r\niDataFromDataSheet = fnGetDataFromDataSheet() 'Some function to get data from data sheet\r\niDataFromApplication = Browser("Brw").Page("Pg").WebElement("WebEl").GetROProperty("innertext")\r\n\r\n'Compare the values\r\nIf Trim(iDataFromApplication) = iDataFromDataSheet Then\r\n   Reporter.ReportEvent micPass, "Passed", "Values Match"\r\nElse\r\n   Reporter.ReportEvent micFail, "Failed", "Values DONT Match"\r\nEnd If\r\n<\/pre>\n
Now most of the times, we use the Trim function just as a precautionary step to make sure that the string doesn’t contain any leading or trailing spaces. So it makes sense to check for the presence of spaces both at the beginning and end of string. Because of this reason, you would notice that you would be using Trim function at many places but LTrim and RTrim would be used only in rare scenarios.
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InStr Function<\/h3>\n
Purpose: <\/strong>InStr is one of the most common string manipulation functions that you would be using in QTP. InStr function helps you determine if a smaller string is present in a bigger string or not. For example, you can use this function to determine if the string “Test” (smaller string) is present in “QuickTest” (bigger string).<\/p>\n
If a match is found, this functions returns a number that represents the position at which the match is found. For example, if you use InStr to search if “tom” is present in “automation”, the function InStr would return the value 3 (which is the starting position of “tom”). So all we need to do here is to check the return value. If it is a number greater than 0 that means the match is found.<\/p>\n
Syntax: <\/strong>InStr(Start(optional), BigString, SmallString, Compare(optional))<\/p>\n