REPLACE$ Function

REPLACE$(haystack-string-expression, needle-string-expression, replacement-string-expression)

Replaces every non-overlapping occurrence of needle$ in haystack$ with replacement$. Matching is case-sensitive. The scan proceeds left-to-right and never re-matches text it has just written, so it is safe even when replacement$ contains needle$.

Notes

• If needle$ is "" (empty), the call is a no-op and returns a copy of haystack$. This avoids degenerate infinite insertions.
• If replacement$ is "", all occurrences of needle$ are removed.
• Behaviour is non-overlapping: after a match, the search continues immediately after the replaced span.
• If haystack$ is "", the function returns "".

Errors

• Type mismatch if any argument is not a string expression.
• Wrong number of arguments if fewer or more than three arguments are supplied.

Examples

' Basic replacement (case-sensitive)
PRINT REPLACE$("Hello hello", "he", "X")     ' -> Hello Xllo
 
' Remove all occurrences
PRINT REPLACE$("abracadabra", "a", "")       ' -> brcdbr
 
' Replacement contains the needle (safe, non-overlapping)
PRINT REPLACE$("xx", "x", "xx")              ' -> xxxx
 
' Longer expansion
PRINT REPLACE$("banana", "na", "nana")       ' -> bananana
 
' Empty needle: no change
PRINT REPLACE$("abc", "", "Z")               ' -> abc

See also

• INSTR Function - find substring position
• MID$ - substring by range
• LEFT$, RIGHT$ - fixed-width substrings