Routines (alphabetical) > Routines: S > STRLEN

# STRLEN

Tip: See also the IDL_String::Strlen method, which provides similar functionality but with an object-oriented interface.

The STRLEN function returns the length of its string-type argument. If the argument is not a string, it is first converted to string type.

## Examples

To find the length of the string “IDL is fun” and print the result, enter:

PRINT, STRLEN('IDL is fun')

IDL prints:

10

## Syntax

Result = STRLEN(Expression)

## Return Value

Returns the string length.

## Arguments

### Expression

The expression for which the string length is desired. If this parameter is not a string, it is converted using IDL’s default formatting rules in order to determine the length. The result is a long integer. If Expression is an array, the result is a long integer array with the same structure, where each element contains the length of the corresponding Expression element.

## Keywords

None.

## Version History

Original | Introduced

## See Also

String Operations, String Processing, IDL_String