Built-in Mathematica Symbol

String ("...")

String
is the head of a character string "text".

MORE INFORMATION

Strings can contain any sequence of ordinary or special characters. »

_String can be used as a pattern that represents a string.

In FullForm, special characters in strings are given as \[Name] or \:code. »

If an explicit newline in the string is preceded by a single backslash \, the backslash and newline are ignored.

EXAMPLES

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Basic Examples (1)

Enter a string:

InputForm shows quotes:

Enter a string:

In[1]:=

Out[1]=

InputForm shows quotes:

In[2]:=

Out[2]//InputForm=

Scope (6)

Enter explicit newlines using \n:

"" is the empty string, which normally does not print:

InputForm explicitly shows the empty strings:

Strings can contain any sequence of ordinary and special characters:

In FullForm, full character names are used:

Strings preserve internal formatting:

All strings have head String:

_String matches any string, but not a symbol:

Generalizations & Extensions (2)

Strings can have any expression embedded:

Strings can contain graphics:

Applications (5)

Print text (the quotes do not appear by default):

Create formatted text:

Define a function which applies only to strings:

Use strings as plot markers:

Give text in graphics:

Properties & Relations (5)

Break a string into characters:

Reconstruct the string:

Find character codes for characters in a string:

Reconstruct the string:

Turn a string into an expression:

ToString creates strings, by default with OutputForm:

Create a string containing InputForm:

Possible Issues (5)

Use \" to enter a " inside a string:

Strings are treated as "atoms" with no parts:

Use StringLength to find the character length of a string:

Strings do not automatically insert spacing around operator characters:

An InputForm string contains explicit space characters:

The actual sequences of characters in a formatted string can be fairly complicated:

A string with special characters usually does not include the long form of the character:

Force long form names to be used: