format$() versus format()

[murrayja]

I am new to basic, old to C.&nbsp;&nbsp;The sample code I look at uses the syntax 'function$()' whereas the documentation specs 'function()'.<br>What does the $ do?<br><br>Also, is there some trick to getting the online aids to show me the methods available for an object?&nbsp;&nbsp;Properties are nice but I like methods also.<br><br>thanks<br>jim murray<br><A HREF="mailto:jim@jamnsan.com">jim@jamnsan.com</A>

 

[JimHorton]

All the $ does is force the function to return a string.&nbsp;&nbsp;If the $ is used, the assignment must be to a string variable or something that will accept a string or cast on-the-fly, or else an error will occur.&nbsp;&nbsp;Not using it returns a more expensive, but safer, variant.&nbsp;&nbsp;Same with the Left() and Left$(), etc. functions.<br>--Jim