you would have to do it like this:
string$="this is a text string"
print_the_text( 100, 100, string$ )
function print_the_text( xpos, ypos, string$ )
nr_of_letters = len( string$ )
for x = 1 to nr_of_letters
current_letter$ = mid$( string$, x)
letter_size = text width( current_letter$ )
text xpos + letter_size + old_letter_size, ypos, current_letter$
old_letter_size = old_letter_size + letter_size
next x
endfunction
ps. I dont have db on this computer, but I guess it should work
[edit]there, i removed a useless variable, thats all[/edit]