How to test, if an element is in a list?

Question

Is there a built-in function to test, if a given element is in a list in Rexx?

I could not find one. The alternative would be to loop over the list and check each element manually.

Answer 1

No (unless things have changed); just loop through the list.

An alternative is instead / as well have a lookup variable

i.e.

lookup. = 0  /* not all versions of Rexx support 
                default initialisation like this */

      ....

addToList:
parse arg item
    numberInList = numberInList + 1
    list.numberInList = item
    lookup.item = 1
return

You can then check if item is in the list by

if lookup.item = 1 then do
    ......

Answer 2

It depends what you mean by a list.

At work, I use classic REXX. I frequently store lists of words in a single variable, space delimited. So WORDPOS() is the built-in function I use.

If you are using a List class in ooREXX. then why not use the hasItem method from the Collection class.