string1$ = "A B C "
string2$ = "A  B    C "

n = 1
do
 s$ = field$(string1$, n, " ")
 print "n: ";n; " s$: ";s$
 inc n
loop until s$ = ""

print ""

n = 1
do
 s$ = field$(string2$, n, " ")
 print "n: ";n; " s$: ";s$
 inc n
loop until s$ = ""

end

' Wrapper for field$() to support multi-character delimiter fields
function mfield$(s$, n, d$)
 local i, j, hit
 z$ = left$(d$, 1)
 r$ = ""
 hit = 0
 for i = 1 to len(s$)
   c$ = mid$(s$, i, 1)
   for j = 1 to len(d$)
     if mid$(d$, j, 1) = c$ then
       if not hit then
         r$ = r$+c$
         hit = 1
       end if
     else
       hit = 0
     end if
   next j
   if not hit then r$ = r$ + c$
 next i
 f$ = field$(r$, n, d$)
 mfield$ = f$
end function

FUNCTION removeMulti(s AS STRING, d AS STRING) AS STRING
      LOCAL INTEGER p = 1
      LOCAL STRING md = d + d

      removeMulti = s
      DO WHILE removeMulti<>"" AND p<>0
             p = INSTR(removeMulti, md)
             IF p>0 THEN
                    removeMulti = LEFT$(removeMulti, p-1) + MID$(removeMulti, p+1)
             ENDIF
      LOOP
END FUNCTION

string2$=removeMulti("A  B   C ", " ")

FUNCTION NCtrim(s AS STRING) AS STRING
 'remove white chars from both end

 NCtrim = NClTrim(NCrTrim(s))
END FUNCTION


FUNCTION NClTrim(s AS STRING) AS STRING
 'left trim function (remove white chars from left)

 NClTrim = s
 DO WHILE NClTrim <> "" AND ASC(LEFT$(NClTrim,1)) < 33
   NClTrim = MID$(NClTrim, 2)
 LOOP
END FUNCTION

FUNCTION NCrTrim(s AS STRING) AS STRING
 'right trim function (removes white chars from right)

 NCrTrim = s
 DO WHILE NCrTrim <> "" AND ASC(RIGHT$(NCrTrim,1)) < 33
   NCrTrim = LEFT$(NCrTrim, LEN(NCrTrim) - 1)
 LOOP
END FUNCTION

OPTION EXPLICIT

DIM STRING dest(1)

? split(TIME$, ":", dest())
arrPrint(dest())
? split(DATE$, "-", dest())
arrPrint(dest())
END

FUNCTION split(s AS STRING, d AS STRING, ret() AS STRING) AS INTEGER
 LOCAL STRING hlp = s+d
 LOCAL INTEGER p = 1

 split = 0
 DO WHILE hlp <> "" AND p>0
   p = INSTR(hlp, d)
   IF p>0 THEN
     INC split
     hlp = MID$(hlp, p+1)
   ENDIF
 LOOP
 ON ERROR SKIP
 ERASE dest()
 IF MM.ERRNO THEN
   split = -1 'error
 ELSE
   IF split>0 THEN
     DIM STRING dest(split)
     LOCAL INTEGER i
     hlp = s+d
     FOR i = 1 TO split
       p = INSTR(hlp, d)
       dest(i) = LEFT$(hlp, p-1)
       hlp = MID$(hlp, p+1)
     NEXT i
   ENDIF
 ENDIF
END FUNCTION

SUB arrPrint(a() AS STRING)
 LOCAL INTEGER i
 FOR i = 1 TO BOUND(a(), 1)
   ?"'"a(i)"'"
 NEXT i
END SUB

OPTION EXPLICIT

DIM STRING test = "LOAD a, 5,7,q  , 6"
? "'"test"'"
? "'"justOneDelimiter(test)"'"
END
FUNCTION justOneDelimiter(s AS STRING) AS STRING
 LOCAL INTEGER p = 1

 justOneDelimiter = s  

 DO WHILE justOneDelimiter<>"" AND p>0
   p = INSTR(justOneDelimiter, ",") 'replace "," with SPACE
   IF p>0 THEN
     justOneDelimiter = LEFT$(justOneDelimiter, p-1) + " " + MID$(justOneDelimiter, p+1)
   ENDIF
 LOOP

 p = 1
 DO WHILE justOneDelimiter<>"" AND p>0
   p = INSTR(justOneDelimiter, "  ") 'no more than 1 SPACE
   IF p>0 THEN
     justOneDelimiter = LEFT$(justOneDelimiter, p-1) + MID$(justOneDelimiter, p+1)
   ENDIF
 LOOP
END FUNCTION

'LOAD a,  5,7,q  , 6'
'LOAD a 5 7 q 6