For short lists of strings, instr performs well.
function Lookup(string list,k) as sys
=====================================
sys p,v
lk=len k
do
p=instr(p+1,list,k)
if p=0 then exit do
if p
if asc(list,p-1)<33 and asc(list,p+lk)=44
v=asc(list,p+lk+1)-48
exit do
end if
end if
end do
return v
end function
list="
left,1
right,2
top,3
bottom,4
above,5
below,6
"
k="top"
print k " " Lookup(list,k)
Charles