Vital.sandbox - string.sub

Syntax

local result = string.sub(input, start_at, end_at = -1)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
`string`	input	String to be extract from
`int`	start_at	Character position where extraction begins - negative counts from end
`int`	end_at	Character position where extraction ends - negative counts from end

Returns

Type	Name	Description
`string`	result	Extracted substring within string's specified range

Examples

Extract a substring by start and end position

local result = string.sub("hello world", 1, 5)

engine.print("info", result) --'hello'

Extract from a position to the end

local result = string.sub("hello world", 7)

engine.print("info", result) --'world'

Get the last characters using a negative index

local result = string.sub("hello", -3)

engine.print("info", result) --'llo'

Use a negative end position

local result = string.sub("hello world", 1, -7)

engine.print("info", result) --'hello'

Extract the middle portion of a string

local result = string.sub("hello world", 2, -2)

engine.print("info", result) --'ello worl'

Extract a single character

local char = string.sub("hello", 1, 1)

engine.print("info", char) --'h'

Extract the last character

local last = string.sub("hello", -1)

engine.print("info", last) --'o'

Extract a file extension

local filename = "document.txt"
local ext = string.sub(filename, -3)

engine.print("info", ext) --'txt'

Extract the first word from a string

local text = "hello world"
local space = string.find(text, " ")
local firstWord = string.sub(text, 1, space - 1)

engine.print("info", firstWord) --'hello'

Remove the first and last character

local str = "[hello]"
local inner = string.sub(str, 2, -2)

engine.print("info", inner) --'hello'

Sub with full range returns the entire string

local str = "hello"
local copy = string.sub(str, 1, -1)

engine.print("info", copy) --'hello'

Return empty string when start exceeds end

local result = string.sub("hello", 5, 3)

engine.print("info", result) --''

Clamped to string length when end exceeds bounds

local result = string.sub("hello", 1, 100)

engine.print("info", result) --'hello'

Use a negative start position

local result = string.sub("hello", -5, -1)

engine.print("info", result) --'hello'

Extract the year from a date string

local date = "2024-01-15"
local year = string.sub(date, 1, 4)

engine.print("info", year) --'2024'

Extract the month from a date string

local date = "2024-01-15"
local month = string.sub(date, 6, 7)

engine.print("info", month) --'01'

Split a string into fixed-size chunks

local str = "abcdefgh"
for i = 1, #str, 2 do
    local chunk = string.sub(str, i, i + 1)
    engine.print("info", chunk)
end

--[[
Output: 
'ab'
'cd'
'ef'
'gh'
]]

Truncate a long string with ellipsis

local long = "This is a very long string"
local short = string.sub(long, 1, 10).."..."

engine.print("info", short) --'This is a ...'

Check if a string starts with a prefix

local str = "hello world"

if string.sub(str, 1, 5) == "hello" then
    engine.print("info", "Starts with hello")
end

Extract content between known indices

local str = "prefix_content_suffix"
local content = string.sub(str, 8, 14)

engine.print("info", content) --'content'

string.sub

Syntax

Parameters

Returns

Examples

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