7.6.5.5 STRING

The STRING step reads a character string of variable length which is terminated by a known character. The received data may be truncated by a certain number of character before it is returned as the user data part of the message.

The terminating character may be specified either as a single character enclosed in double quoted or as a decimal number.

The offset parameter defines how many characters still have to be read or how many characters have to be cut at the end of the data to isolate the user data part of the message:

• If offset = 0 the data read, including the termination character, is returned as the user data of the message.
• If offset < 0 the given number of characters are cut off at the end of the data. E.g. offset = -1 removes the termination character from the data.
• If offset > 0 the given number of characters additionally is read and appended to the user data.