Clib Compare Strings Method

The Clib Compare Strings method performs a comparison between two strings, one byte at a time. It returns one of the following values:

• If the strings are identical, then it returns the following value:

  0

• If the ASCII code of the first unmatched character in the string1 argument is:

  • Less than that of the first unmatched character in the string2 argument, then it returns a negative number.

  • Greater than that of the first unmatched character in the string2 argument, then it returns a positive number.

It stops the comparison if one of the following situations occurs:

• It encounters a mismatch between strings.

• It encounters a terminating null byte.

Format

Clib.stricmp(string1, string2)
Clib.strcmpi(string1, string2)
Clib.strncmp(string1, string2, maxLen)
Clib.strncmpi(string1, string2, maxLen)
Clib.strnicmp(string1, string2, maxLen)

You can use one of the following:

• Search that is case-sensitive. You use Clib.strncmp.

• Search that is not case-sensitive. You use Clib.stricmp or Clib.strcmpi. In a comparison that is not case-sensitive, A and a are the same.

The Clib.strncmp, Clib.strncmpi, and Clib.strnicmp methods stop the comparison when one of the following situations occurs:

• It has compared the number of bytes that you specify in the maxLen argument.

• It encounters a terminating null byte.

The following table describes the arguments for the Clib Compare Strings method.

Argument	Description
string1	A string or a variable that contains a string that this method compares against the string that the string2 argument contains.
string2	A string or a variable that contains a string that this method compares against the string that the string1 argument contains.
maxLen	The number of bytes to compare.