words

words <string>

Split a string on whitespace into an iterable of its words.

This is the way to make a string iterable. A bare string is not an iterable, so before you can feed text to each, count, first, select, or any other consumer, you convert it with words.

Arguments

• <string> — the text to split. Runs of spaces, tabs, and newlines separate words; empty stretches produce no element. An empty string yields no words.

Returns

An iterable whose elements are string words, in order. Each element is one whitespace-delimited token of the input.

Examples

after command (say) {
  do "say There are [count [words "one two three"]] words."
}

[words "one two three"] yields three words, so [count ...] evaluates to 3 and the mob says "There are 3 words."

after command (say) {
  each [words "north east south west"] { <dir>
    do "say I could go $dir."
  }
}

The iterable drives each, running the block once per word — the mob names each direction in turn. The block parameter <dir> is declared inside the braces, right after {.

after command (say) {
  do "say first=[first [words "alpha beta"]]"
}

[first [words "alpha beta"]] evaluates to "alpha".

The automatic $args binding is already a word iterable, so you do not wrap it in words; reach for words when you have a plain string such as $arg or a literal.

See also

• each, count, first, select — consumers that need an iterable, not a bare string.
• keyword, abbrev — match a word iterable against keywords.
• alias — name aliases, also produced as word strings.
• Strings and interpolation · Iterables and iterables · Types