String

A string is a variable type that contains text. Possible length and characters depend on the game and its version.

ⓘ

The encoding should be mostly transparent. The input files can be encoded both in UTF-16 or UTF-8, the toString and toArray functions always convert from/to UTF-16 representation.

Properties

	OFP	ArmA	Arma 2	Arma 2:OA	TKOH	Arma 3 (before v1.56)	Arma 3 (since v1.56)
Max length	2056	No set limit					9,999,999 to 10,000,000 (same as Array length)
Encoding	ASCII	Unicode
Code page	product language defined	UTF-8
"text"
'text'
{text}

Commands and Functions

• String Scripting Commands
• String Functions

Single quote limitation

Other than double quotes ("text"), single quotes ('text') do not seem to support tabs:

_string = "	
	";
copyToClipboard _string;
diag_log format ["%1 %2 %3 x%4x", toArray _string, toArray copyFromClipboard, toArray (_string select [0]), _string];

/*
	return is good: "[9,10,9] [9,10,9] [9,10,9] x	
	x"
*/

_string = '	
	';
copyToClipboard _string;
diag_log format ["%1 %2 %3 x%4x", toArray _string, toArray copyFromClipboard, toArray (_string select [0]), _string];

/*
	return: "[9,10] [9,10] [9,10] x	
x" - second tab vanished
*/

Example courtesy of Rydygier

Examples

Quotes in quotes

private _string = "my string ""with"" quotes";
private _string = 'my string "with" quotes';
private _string = 'my string with quotes';

String formats

// Operation Flashpoint
_string = "Hello there" // works
_string = 'Hello there' // does NOT work
_string = {Hello there} // works

// Since Armed Assault
_string = "Hello there" // works
_string = 'Hello there' // works
_string = {Hello there} // does NOT work

Operators

private _finalString = "Hello" + " " + "there"; // outputs "Hello there" - the + sign concatenates strings

The only basic operator to be used on strings is "plus". You can use "plus" to concatenate two strings.

Conversion

private _value = 42; // this is a Number
hint _value; // error - hint takes a String, not a Number
hint format ["%1", _value]; // ok
hint str _value; // ok - since Armed Assault