Download user manual - Parse-O

P A R S E - O - M A T I C
C O M M A N D S
U S E R
M A N U A L
—
D A T A
A S S I G N M E N T
Len
Format
Examples
Purpose
Parameters
v1 = Len v2 [v3 v4 v5...]
MyVar1 = Len MyVar2 ; If MyVar2 is 'ABC', MyVar1 will
be '3'
MyVar3 = Len X1 X2
; Measure total length of appended
values
Sets v1 to the length (number of characters) in v2
v1 - Variable being set
v2 - Value being measured
v3 - Value (any number of values can be appended)
ParseName
ParseName v1 v2 v3 v4 v5 v6 v7
Example
Purpose
Parameters
Controls
ParseName 'John Smith' 'No' addform first middle last
suffix
Breaks up a name into its component parts
v1 - The unparsed name
v2 - Control setting: detect company names?
v3 - Variable to receive address form (e.g. 'Mister')
v4 - Variable to receive first name (e.g. 'John')
v5 - Variable to receive middle name (e.g. 'J.')
v6 - Variable to receive last name (e.g. 'Smith')
v7 - Variable to receive suffix (e.g. 'the third')
v2 = Yes/No
ParseName provides some basic capability for breaking up a proper name. The results
cannot be completely accurate because there are so many possible variations. Thus, if
you use ParseName (typically to create a CSV record), you should review the results
afterwards and modify your script to handle exceptions.
In addition, you should not assume that ParseName will return the same results when
using different versions of Parse-O-Matic. The ParseName command is occasionally
updated to improve its ―intelligence‖. ParseName is a handy time-saver, but there are
no definitive rules for this kind of operation.
If the control setting (v2) is set to 'Yes', ParseName can detect many company names,
placing the entire value in v4. This, too, is not entirely reliable. For example, 'John
Jones Enterprises' will be recognized as a company, but 'Les Entreprises John Jones'
(i.e. the company name in French) is not.
Despite its limitations, ParseName is a helpful command: it can greatly reduce the
effort required if you are converting a large list of names.
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