string  0;                      \use zero-terminated strings

func StripComment(Str);         \Remove characters after marker and remove
char Str;  int I;               \ whitespace at beginning and end of string
[I:= 0;
loop    case Str(I) of
          ^#, ^;, 0: quit
        other I:= I+1;
while I>0 and Str(I-1)<=$20 do I:= I-1;
Str(I):= 0;
while Str(0)<=$20 do Str:= Str+1;
return Str;
];

int Strings, I;
[Strings:= [
    " apples, pears # and bananas",
    " apples, pears ; and bananas ",
    " apples, pears     "];
for I:= 0 to 3-1 do
    [ChOut(0, ^");
    Text(0, StripComment(Strings(I)));
    ChOut(0, ^");
    CrLf(0);
    ];
]