Get the length of a string in characters

Summary

The length macro returns the number of characters in a string. Returns 0 if no argument is provided.

Syntax 

${length[;<string>]}

Parameters

  • string (optional) - The string to measure. If omitted, returns 0.

Behavior

  • Returns the character count
  • Returns 0 if no string provided
  • Counts all characters including spaces
  • Unicode characters count as single characters

Examples

Get string length:

${length;hello world}
# Returns: 11

Check if empty:

${if;${length;${value}};has-value;empty}

Validate input length:

${if;${length;${password}};password-ok;password-required}

No argument:

${length}
# Returns: 0

Use Cases

  • String length validation
  • Checking for empty strings
  • Input validation
  • String size limits
  • Conditional logic based on length

Notes

  • Returns integer count
  • Includes all characters (spaces, newlines, etc.)
  • Unicode safe
  • See also: ${size} for list element count

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java