substr(str, offset, len, repl)

function outstr = substr(str, offset, len, repl)
%SUBSTR Extract a substring out of a string.
%
%   SUBSTR(STRING, OFFSET, LENGTH) extracts a substring out of STRING with
%   given LENGTH starting at the given OFFSET.  First character is at offset 0.
%   If OFFSET is negative, starts that far from the end of the string.  If
%   LENGTH is omitted, returns everything to the end of the string.  If LENGTH
%   is negative, removes that many characters from the end of the string.
%
%   SUBSTR(STRING, OFFSET, LENGTH, REPLACEMENT) will not return the substring
%   as specified by STRING, OFFSET, and LENGTH (see above) but rather replace
%   it by REPLACEMENT and return the result.
%
%   Examples:
%
%      Get first character:              substr(string,  0, 1)
%      Get last character:               substr(string, -1, 1)
%      Remove first character:           substr(string,  1)
%      Remove last character:            substr(string,  0, -1)
%      Remove first and last character:  substr(string,  1, -1)
%
%   SUBSTR is a MATLAB version of the Perl operator with the same name.
%   However, unlike Perl's SUBSTR, no warning is produced if the substring is
%   totally outside the string.

%   Author:      Peter J. Acklam
%   Time-stamp:  2004-02-21 22:49:14 +0100
%   E-mail:      [e-mail]
%   URL:         http://home.online.no/~pjacklam

   % Check number of input arguments.
   error(nargchk(2, 4, nargin));

   n = length(str);

   % Get lower index.
   lb = offset + 1;             % offset from beginning of string
   if offset < 0
      lb = lb + n;              % offset from end of string
   end
   lb = max(lb, 1);

   % Get upper index.
   if nargin == 2               % SUBSTR(STR, OFFSET)
      ub = n;
   elseif nargin > 2            % SUBSTR(STR, OFFSET, LEN)
      if len >= 0
         ub = lb + len - 1;
      else
         ub = n + len;
      end
      ub = min(ub, n);
   end

   % Extract or replace substring.
   if nargin < 4
      outstr = str(lb : ub);                        % extract substring
   else
      outstr = [str(1:lb-1) repl str(ub+1:end)];    % replace substring
   end