Text operators

Text operators define conditions based on strings.

Table 1. Text Operators in BAL
Operator Description Example
<text> contains <text> Tests that a string contains another string. 
if
   the name of the customer contains “Smith”
then...
<text> does not contain <text> Tests that a string does not contain another string. 
if
   the name of the customer does not contain “Smith”
then...
<text> does not end with <text> Tests that a string does not end with another string. 
if
   the rental agreement code of the customer does not end with “XG5”
then...
<text> does not start with <text> Tests that a string does not start with another string. 
if
   the rental agreement code of the customer does not start with “XG5”
then...
<text> ends with <text> Tests that a string ends with another string. 
if
   the rental agreement code of the customer ends with “XG5”
then...
<text> is empty Tests that a string is empty. An empty string contains no characters and is equivalent to ““. A string is not empty if it contains a space (“ “) 
if
   the rental agreement code of the customer is empty
then...
<text> is not empty Tests that a string is not empty. A string is not empty if it contains a space (“ “) 
if
   the rental agreement code of the customer is not empty
then...
print <text> Prints a string to standard out. 
if...
then
   print the message “Hello World”
<text> starts with <text> Tests that a string starts with another string. 
if
   the rental agreement code of the customer starts with “XG5”
then...
the length of <text> Returns the number of characters in a string. 
if
   the length of ’customer name’ is more than 3
then...