The table summarizes the string operators available in APL.

OperatorDescriptionCase sensitiveExample
==EqualsYes"aBc" == "aBc"
!=Not equalsYes"abc" != "ABC"
=~EqualsNo"abc" =~ "ABC"
!~Not equalsNo"aBc" !~ "xyz"
containsRHS occurs as a subsequence of LHSNo"parentSpanId" contains "Span"
!containsRHS doesn’t occur in LHSNo"parentSpanId" !contains "abc"
contains_csRHS occurs as a subsequence of LHSYes"parentSpanId" contains_cs "Id"
!contains_csRHS doesn’t occur in LHSYes"parentSpanId" !contains_cs "Id"
startswithRHS is an initial subsequence of LHSNo"parentSpanId" startswith "parent"
!startswithRHS isn’t an initial subsequence of LHSNo"parentSpanId" !startswith "Id"
startswith_csRHS is an initial subsequence of LHSYes"parentSpanId" startswith_cs "parent"
!startswith_csRHS isn’t an initial subsequence of LHSYes"parentSpanId" !startswith_cs "parent"
endswithRHS is a closing subsequence of LHSNo"parentSpanId" endswith "Id"
!endswithRHS isn’t a closing subsequence of LHSNo"parentSpanId" !endswith "Span"
endswith_csRHS is a closing subsequence of LHSYes"parentSpanId" endswith_cs "Id"
!endswith_csRHS isn’t a closing subsequence of LHSYes"parentSpanId" !endswith_cs "Span"
inEquals to one of the elementsYes"abc" in ("123", "345", "abc")
!inNot equals to any of the elementsYes"bca" !in ("123", "345", "abc")
in~Equals to one of the elementsNo"abc" in~ ("123", "345", "ABC")
!in~Not equals to any of the elementsNo"bca" !in~ ("123", "345", "ABC")
matches regexLHS contains a match for RHSYes"parentSpanId" matches regex "g.*r"
!matches regexLHS doesn’t contain a match for RHSYes"parentSpanId" !matches regex "g.*r"
hasRHS is a whole term in LHSNo"North America" has "america"
!hasRHS isn’t a whole term in LHSNo"North America" !has "america"
has_csRHS is a whole term in LHSYes"North America" has_cs "America"
!has_csRHS isn’t a whole term in LHSYes"North America" !has_cs "America"
hasprefixLHS string starts with the RHS stringNo"Admin_User" hasprefix "Admin"
!hasprefixLHS string doesn’t start with the RHS stringNo"Admin_User" !hasprefix "Admin"
hasprefix_csLHS string starts with the RHS stringYes"DOCS_file" hasprefix_cs "DOCS"
!hasprefix_csLHS string doesn’t start with the RHS stringYes"DOCS_file" !hasprefix_cs "DOCS"
hassuffixLHS string ends with the RHS stringNo"documentation.docx" hassuffix ".docx"
!hassuffixLHS string doesn’t end with the RHS stringNo"documentation.docx" !hassuffix ".docx"
hassuffix_csLHS string ends with the RHS stringYes"Document.HTML" hassuffix_cs ".HTML"
!hassuffix_csLHS string doesn’t end with the RHS stringYes"Document.HTML" !hassuffix_cs ".HTML"

RHS = right-hand side of the expression LHS = left-hand side of the expression

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Case-sensitivity

Operators with _cs suffix are case-sensitive.

When two operators do the same task, use the case-sensitive one for better performance.

For example:

  • Instead of =~, use ==
  • Instead of in~, use in
  • Instead of contains, use contains_cs

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Best practices

  • Use case-sensitive operators when you know the case to improve performance.
  • Avoid complex regular expressions for basic matching tasks. Use basic string operators instead.
  • When matching against a set of values, ensure the set is as small as possible to improve performance.
  • For matching substrings, use prefix or suffix matching instead of general substring matching for better performance.

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Equality and inequality operators

Operators:

  • ==
  • !=
  • =~
  • !~
  • in
  • !in
  • in~
  • !in~

Query examples:

"get" == "get"
"get" != "GET"
"get" =~ "GET"
"get" !~ "put"
"get" in ("get", "put", "delete")
  • Use == or != for exact match comparisons when case sensitivity is important.
  • Use =~ or !~ for case-insensitive comparisons or when you don’t know the exact case.
  • Use in or !in for checking membership within a set of values which can be efficient for a small set of values.

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Subsequence-matching operators

Operators:

  • contains
  • !contains
  • contains_cs
  • !contains_cs
  • startswith
  • !startswith
  • startswith_cs
  • !startswith_cs
  • endswith
  • !endswith
  • endswith_cs
  • !endswith_cs

Query examples:

"parentSpanId" contains "Span" // True
"parentSpanId" !contains "xyz" // True
"parentSpanId" startswith "parent" // True
"parentSpanId" endswith "Id" // True
"parentSpanId" contains_cs "Span" // True if parentSpanId is "parentSpanId", False if parentSpanId is "parentspanid" or "PARENTSPANID"
"parentSpanId" startswith_cs "parent" // True if parentSpanId is "parentSpanId", False if parentSpanId is "ParentSpanId" or "PARENTSPANID"
"parentSpanId" endswith_cs "Id" // True if parentSpanId is "parentSpanId", False if parentSpanId is "parentspanid" or "PARENTSPANID"

Use case-sensitive operators (contains_cs, startswith_cs, endswith_cs) when you know the case to improve performance.

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Regular-expression-matching operators

Operators:

  • matches regex
  • !matches regex

Query examples:

"parentSpanId" matches regex "p.*Id" // True
"parentSpanId" !matches regex "x.*z" // True

Avoid complex regular expressions or use string operators for simple substring, prefix, or suffix matching.

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Term-matching operators

Operators:

  • has
  • !has
  • has_cs
  • !has_cs
  • hasprefix
  • !hasprefix
  • hasprefix_cs
  • !hasprefix_cs
  • hassuffix
  • !hassuffix
  • hassuffix_cs
  • !hassuffix_cs

Query examples:

"North America" has "america" // True
"North America" !has "america" // False
"North America" has_cs "America" // True
"North America" !has_cs "America" // False
"Admin_User" hasprefix "Admin" // True
"Admin_User" !hasprefix "Admin" // False
"DOCS_file" hasprefix_cs "DOCS" // True
"DOCS_file" !hasprefix_cs "DOCS" // False
"documentation.docx" hassuffix ".docx" // True
"documentation.docx" !hassuffix ".docx" // False
"Document.HTML" hassuffix_cs ".HTML" // True
"Document.HTML" !hassuffix_cs ".HTML" // False
  • Use has or has_cs for term matching which can be more efficient than regular expression matching for simple term searches.
  • Use has_cs when you know the case to improve performance.
  • Unlike the contains operator, which matches any substring, the has operator looks for exact terms, ensuring more precise results.