Flash CS3 Documentation

Flash Lite 2.x ActionScript Language Reference > ActionScript classes > String > substr (String.substr method)

substr (String.substr method)

Returns the characters in a string from the index specified in the start parameter through the number of characters specified in the length parameter. The substr method does not change the string specified by my_str; it returns a new string.

Parameters

start:Number - An integer that indicates the position of the first character in my_str to be used to create the substring. If start is a negative number, the starting position is determined from the end of the string, where the -1 is the last character.

length:Number - The number of characters in the substring being created. If length is not specified, the substring includes all the characters from the start to the end of the string.

Returns

String - A substring of the specified string.

Example

The following example creates a new string, my_str and uses substr() to return the second word in the string; first, using a positive start parameter, and then using a negative start parameter:

var my_str:String = new String("Hello world");
var mySubstring:String = new String();
mySubstring = my_str.substr(6,5);
trace(mySubstring); // output: world

mySubstring = my_str.substr(-5,5);
trace(mySubstring); // output: world

An example is also in the Strings.fla file in the ActionScript samples folder at www.adobe.com/go/learn_fl_samples. Download and decompress the .zip file and navigate to the folder for your version of ActionScript to access the sample.

Flash CS3