Testing parts of a string

1. The StartsWith function is used to test whether a string starts with a given string:

«If(StartsWith(Surname,'van ')»«Title» «Surname» is probably of Dutch descent.«End()»
«If(StartsWith(Surname,'van ')»«SetV('LastPart',substring-after(Surname,'van '))»«End()»

In previous versions this command was known as starts-with. Backward compatibility ensures that XpressDox will still recognize this command.

2. EndsWith tests the end of a string:

«If(EndsWith(Surname,'-Smith')»
«Surname» is a double-barrelled name.
«SetV('FirstPart',substring(Surname,1,string-length(Surname) - 6))»«Comment(SetV(‘FirstPart’,string-before(‘-Smith’)) is equivalent)»
«End()»


3. contains (an XSLT function) tests for a string anywhere in another string:

«If(contains(Surname,'prmzl'))»«Surname» is not an English name.«End()»

4. SubstringBefore and SubstringAfter test for a string which occurs in another string, but either before or after another delimeter:

The first name is «SubstringBefore(FullNames,' ')» and the last part of the name is «SubstringAfter(FullNames,' ')»