Function string

Syntax:

Arguments and Values:

x—a string, a symbol, or a character.

string—a string.

Description:

Returns a string described by x; specifically:

• If x is a string, it is returned.
• If x is a symbol, its name is returned.
• If x is a character, then a string containing that one character is returned.
• string might perform additional, implementation-defined conversions.

Examples:

 (string "already a string") → "already a string"
 (string 'elm) → "ELM"
 (string #\c) → "c"

Affected By:

None.

Exceptional Situations:

In the case where a conversion is defined neither by this specification nor by the implementation, an error of type type-error is signaled.

See Also:

coerce, string (type).

Notes:

18.3.0 14 KMP (13-Feb-91): Need to make it so that this is apparent and needn't be inferred from weird rules of thumb. Barmar: Do they allow a character argument? KMP: No! Hmm. Removed for now as misleading. Most of the string functions effectively apply \funref{string} to their arguments that are supposed to be \term{strings}.

18.3.0 15coerce can be used to convert a sequence of characters to a string.

18.3.0 15prin1-to-string, princ-to-string, write-to-string, or format (with a first argument of nil) can be used to get a string representation of a number or any other object.