replacing only exact matches in script

[Bob Sneidar]

Again, this is probably better handled with database queries. But looking at your example, wouldn't it be simpler to replace "*" with space & "*" & space, and likewise with everything not a-z A-Z including cr, lf, etc? Now you have a guarantee that wholematches will work with words. 

Bob S


> On Aug 7, 2019, at 12:10 , Dr. Hawkins via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
> I’m finally writing my new version of dependency calculation for database variables, with a supposedly clever easy format fo entry and machine calculated script.
> 
> I need to replace only exact true words, though.   So I need to be able to take an input string such as 
> 
> 5*pay - 2*monthlypay
> 
> and be able to replace “pay" with
> 
> getVal(pay,,,debtor)
> 
> without  replacing monthlypay.
> 
> I can’t with any certainty control the order that variables will appear in my ”raw” formulae (too many ways to blow up!).
> 
> I’ve considered requiring a space before and after, but, again, two many ways to blow up.
> 
> I could manually parse the line, looking for starts and stops, but it’s both ugly and asking for obscure bugs.
> 
> I could make a list of all the truewords, and cycle through, moving any one that is a substring of any other to the end, and repeatedly looping until the list is empty.  Ugly, but the least insane of the options I’ve come up with.
> 
> I can handle a performance penalty, as this routine would run only in the development version, with the resultant array saved as a stack property in any shipped version. But I’d still like it to be as fast as I can and avoid thumb-twiddling . . .
> — 
> Richard E. Hawkins, Esq.
> The Hawkins Law Firm
> 3430 E. Flamingo Rd.
> Suite 232
> Las Vegas, NV  89121
> (702) 508-8462