lineoffset question

[Craig Newman]

All.

I posted this same question to the forum. Got the same helpful replies. Thank you.

I am not asking for a workaround. I know how to find stuff in a variable. But I had thought there was a native “find” command in LC that worked for variables. I recall, or think I do, that it took the form “revFind…”.

Apparently, I was wrong. First time for everything.

Craig

> On Oct 13, 2026, at 8:45 AM, Mike Kerner via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
> craig,
> why can't you use offset or lineoffset on any container?
> 
> *put* "xyz" into w
> 
> *answer* offset ( "y" , w )
> 
> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 4:42 PM Alex Tweedly via use-livecode <
> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
>> note that for the jbv's case, we need to use the 'string' variant of
>> find in case there are spaces etc. in the string to be found.
>> 
>>    set the text of fld Fhidden to myList
>>    find string myvar in fld Fhidden
>>    put the foundline .....
>> 
>> Also, dictionary says that the "offset" functions are generally faster
>> than the "find" command, and note that you would still need to do
>> something like 'put line x of myList into tLine', so I'm not sure
>> there's much saving from using find rather than a loop with "lineoffset
>> + linestoskip" - even if  we do remember or find the name of the
>> revFind... function.
>> 
>> Alex.
>> 
>> On 09/10/2026 17:31, Craig Newman via use-livecode wrote:
>>> Ever since HC days, the workings of the “find command, that is, each
>> “find” remembers its container location, can be exploited. Assuming you
>> have multiple instances of the string “bbb” in a container (in this
>> example, a field 1):
>>> 
>>> on mouseUp
>>> 
>>>   repeat while the result is empty
>>> 
>>>     find "bbb" in fld 1
>>> 
>>>     put word 2 of the foundLine & return after tLinesFound
>>> 
>>>   end repeat
>>> 
>>> answer tLinesFound
>>> 
>>> end mouseUp
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Craig
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Oct 9, 2026, at 9:03 AM, Mike Kerner via use-livecode <
>> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> have you tried using regex for this? it should be blazing fast.
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 3:41 AM jbv via use-livecode <
>>>> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Hi list,
>>>>> 
>>>>> When lineoffset returns a value greater than 0, that
>>>>> means the string to search has been found.
>>>>> But is there a way to get the content of the found line ?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Of course, I can use :
>>>>>   get lineoffset(myVar,myList)
>>>>>   if it > 0 then
>>>>>     put line it of myList into tline
>>>>>   end if
>>>>> 
>>>>> But when myList is very long, and when many lines are
>>>>> successively found, the script has to count the lines
>>>>> each time and it becomes very slow.
>>>>> 
>>>>> There is also the option to split the lines of myList
>>>>> into an array :
>>>>>   put myList into Tlist using return
>>>>>   get lineoffset(myVar,myList)
>>>>>   if it > 0 then
>>>>>     put Tlist[it] into tline
>>>>>   end if
>>>>> 
>>>>> But then again, splitting the list can be slow if it's
>>>>> very long.
>>>>> 
>>>>> IMHO it would be a great improvement to get the content
>>>>> of the line in which the string to search has been found.
>>>>> For instance, if nothing has been found, the returned value
>>>>> would still be zero.
>>>>> And if the string to search has been found, the returned
>>>>> value could be as follows :
>>>>> line 1 -> the line number
>>>>> line 2 -> the content of the found line
>>>>> 
>>>>> Best,
>>>>> jbv
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> On the first day, God created the heavens and the Earth
>>>> On the second day, God created the oceans.
>>>> On the third day, God put the animals on hold for a few hours,
>>>>   and did a little diving.
>>>> And God said, "This is good."
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> 
> 
> -- 
> On the first day, God created the heavens and the Earth
> On the second day, God created the oceans.
> On the third day, God put the animals on hold for a few hours,
>   and did a little diving.
> And God said, "This is good."
> _______________________________________________
> use-livecode mailing list
> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences:
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode