"String" is a data type. Other data types are integer, long, real, complex and I/O path. A string is a combination of ASCII characters. These are the letters, numbers and symbols that you can type on the keyboard. ASCII characters also include control characters such as carriage return, etc. A string can be just one character long or it can be one word, one sentence, one paragraph long or any combination of letters, numbers, spaces and symbols up to a maximum length of 32,767 characters.
Use the DIM statement to declare a local string variable and define its maximum length. The length of a string variable can never exceed its declared length. Use the ALLOCATE statement to declare a local string variable which can be DEALLOCATEd dynamically. Use the COM statement to declare a global string variable. If a string variable is not declared, it will be automatically declared as an 18 character maximum length local string variable unless CONFIGURE DIM OFF is used.
