Format 3 of the @TABS statement is used to expand software tabs in work files and string variables if a tab character and corresponding tab positions have been defined (see
@TABS, format 2).
Operation | Operands | F mode, L mode |
@TABS | RANGE [={ lines | svars } [,...]] | |
| lines | One or more line ranges in which tab characters are to be expanded. |
svars | One or more ranges of string variables in which tab characters are to be |
If neither lines nor svars is specified then the tab characters are expanded in all the lines of the current work file.
If no software tabulator is defined then the statement is rejected with the error message EDT5953. However, the software tabulator does not have to be active.
If, due to tabulator expansion, a line or string variable exceeds the maximum length of 32768 characters then tabulator expansion is aborted and the message EDT4314 is output. There is no check of the maximum length defined using @TABS (format 2) or @CHECK (format 1).
If the positioning strategy for the software tabulator is set with a check (CHECK in format 2) and backward positioning would be performed then tabulator expansion is aborted and the message EDT4312 is output.