Tag Archives: string

Difference between empty string and zero value

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Type comparisons between text field string values and integers can be bothersome as an empty string would trace as 0. Undeclared integers always default to zero.

textfield.text = "";
trace(int(textfield.text)); // 0

If you need to check whether a textfield is empty or if it contains the number zero, use a boolean.

if(Boolean(textfield.text)) {
// textfield contains some input
if(textfield.text == "0") {
// textfield contains the zero character
}
}

Splitting string with delimiters

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Splitting a string with delimiters, i.e. commas, into an array was easy.

I had an XML-file with multiple possible values for one start value. These would be used to populate a drop down:

<startValue>1</startValue>
<endValue>1,2,3,4,5</endValue>

Alas, I needed to split the endValue property into an array:

var tmp:String = xmlList.endValue.text();
var array:Array = tmp.split(",");
trace(array);