function mtc = match(LIST,element)

% match(LIST,element) -- Find the position of an element in a list.
%
% Given a single row vector  LIST, find out which item
% in the list <element> matches.  Return that number. This function
% is conceptually based on the match() function in PennMUSH. Like
% PennMUSH match(), it only finds the FIRST instance of a number.
% <LIST> must be an array of characters, such as LIST = ['a' 'b' 'c',...]
% <element> must be in character form
%
% Example:
% >> m = match(['a' 'b' 'c' 'd' 'e' 'f'],'c')
% m = 3

  listsize = size(LIST,2);
  position = 0;              % position 0, reserved for non-matches
  
  for i = 1:listsize
    if (LIST(i) == element)
      position = i;
      break;
    end
  end

  mtc = position;         % the position number, for output from the function