>>Right, that matches my experience. ALINES() is linear. GETWORDxxx() is not.

The ALines nflags parameter also allows better control over strings like a,,b,c,d or similar, as frequently seen in comma-delimited inputs:

lcstring="a,,b,c,d"   &&second word is blank
? Getwordnum(m.lcString,2,",")   &&returns b
licnt=ALINES(laString,m.lcstring,1,",")
? lastring(2)   &&returns empty string
? lastring(3)  &&returns b
licnt=ALINES(laString,m.lcstring,5,",")
? lastring(2)  &&returns b