Name: split

Type: command

Syntax: split <variable> {by | using | with} <primaryDelimiter> [and <secondaryDelimiter>]

Syntax: split <variable> {by | using | with} <primaryDelimiter> as set

Syntax: split <variable> {by | using | with} {row | column}

Summary: Transforms a list into an <array>.

Introduced: 1.1

OS: mac,windows,linux,ios,android

Platforms: desktop,server,web,mobile

Example:
put "one,two,three" into tData
split tData by comma
// RESULT
// tData[1] = "one"
// tData[2] = "two"
// tData[3] = "three"

Example:
put "one,two,three" into line 1 of tData
put "ben,fraser,elanor" into line 2 of tData
put "apple,orange,grape" into line 3 of tData
set the rowdel to comma
split tData by column
// RESULT
// tData[1] = 
// one
// two
// three
// tData[2] = 
// ben
// fraser
// elanor
// tData[3] = 
// apple
// orange
// grape

Parameters:
variable: Any variable that is not an array
primaryDelimiter: A character or an expression that evaluates to a character.
secondaryDelimiter: A character or an expression that evaluates to a character.

The result: If the first form of the <split> command is used, the parts that become elements are defined by the <primaryDelimiter>. For example, if the <primaryDelimiter> is <return>, each line of the variable becomes an element in the resulting array.The resulting array looks like this:. If the second form of the <split> command is used, the string is split into elements of an array where each element using the <rowDelimiter> or <columnDelimiter>, where each element of the resulting array is a row or column of the string respectively.

Description:
Use the <split> command to place a list in an array so you can easily address each part of the list.

The <split> command separates the parts of the variable into elements of an array. After the command is finished executing, the variable specified is an array. 
 
If you don't specify a <secondaryDelimiter>, then a simple numeric array is created, with each key being a number, starting with 1. 
 
If you specify a <secondaryDelimiter>, the key for each element is the first portion of each part of the variable, separated from the element's content by the <secondaryDelimiter>. For example, if the <primaryDelimiter> is <return> and the <secondaryDelimiter> is <space>, the remainder of each line of the variable is placed in an array element whose key is the first word of the line. 
 
If you use the as set form the <split> command converts the passed variable to an array with the keys being equal to the original list and the values being true. 
 
For example, the following statements create an array: 
 
put "A apple,B bottle,C cradle" into myVariable 
split myVariable by comma and space 
 
KEY	VALUE 
	A	apple 
	B	bottle 
	C	cradle 
 >*Important:* Using the <split> command can discard data if any of the keys in the original variable are duplicated. If more than one part of the variable delimited by the <primaryDelimiter> has the same first portion delimited by the <secondaryDelimiter>, only the element corresponding to the first part is created. (For example, if you are splitting a variable by <return> and <space>, and two lines happen to have the same first word, only one of the lines is retained in the array.) Only one element is created for each unique key. 
 
Splitting a string by row converts the string into an array where each element of the array corresponds to a row in the string separated by the <rowDelimiter>. 
 
Splitting a string by column converts the string into an array where each element of the array corresponds to a column in the string separated by the <columnDelimiter>.

References: columnDelimiter (property), rowDelimiter (property), [] (keyword), using (keyword), space (constant), return (constant), combine (command), intersect (command), extents (function), keys (function), array (glossary)

Tags: properties
