On input, the search term is bounded by a delimiter character on both the left and right. There are two different delimiter characters.
apostrophe
(Default value ' ) specifies that text delimiter characters before or after the
search term should not be searched for in the search range. The start and
end of the hit string are therefore determined solely by the search term.
quotation mark
(Default value ") specifies that the hit string in the search range must be bounded by a text delimiter character before and/or after the search term. The start and/or end of the hit string are therefore defined by delimiter
characters or by the first or last column of the column range to be searched.
The settings for the delimiter character apostrophe and for the delimiter character quotation mark can be modified using the @QUOTE statement.
The strings that are considered to be hits depend on the type of delimiter character used. If the search term is enclosed in apostrophes then an occurrence of the search term in the search range is considered to be a hit.
The wildcard asterisk has no significance if it occurs in the search term immediately next to the delimiter character apostrophe.
If the search term's left-hand delimiter character is the quotation mark, then for the search term to count as a hit it must be located either at the start of the line or a text delimiter character must be located immediately in front of it.
If the wildcard character asterisk is located immediately after the delimiter character quotation mark in the search term then the hit string extends to the next text delimiter character before the search term. If there is no text delimiter character then the hit string continues to the start of the line.
If the search term's right-hand delimiter character is the quotation mark, then for the search term to count as a hit it must be located either at the end of the line or a text delimiter character must be located immediately after it. If the wildcard character asterisk is located immediately before the delimiter character quotation mark in the search term then the hit string extends to the next text delimiter character after the search term.
If there is no text delimiter character then the hit string continues to the end of the line.
By default, EDT presets the set of text delimiter characters to the characters: blank (X'40') and +.!*();-/,?:'=".
This character set can be redefined using the @DELIMIT statement.
To search for the delimiter characters apostrophe or quotation mark as part of a search term then these must be specified in duplicate.
The first and last columns of a specified column range act as text delimiter characters during the search in the same way as the start or end of a line.
The delimiter characters in a search term can be combined as desired.
Example 1
The work file contains the following lines:
1.ABCD
2.A,BCD
3.ABC,D
4.A,BC,D
With @ON & PRINT 'BC' 1 hit is identified in all 4 lines.
With @ON & PRINT "BC' 1 hit is identified in the 2nd and 4th lines.
With @ON & PRINT 'BC" 1 hit is identified in 3rd and 4th line.
With @ON & PRINT "BC" 1 hit is identified in the 4th line.
Example 2
The work file contains the following line:
1.XXX,ABCDEFGH-YYY
@ON 1 PRINT PATTERN 'EFG*"
The hit string is 'EFGH' since it extends to the right as far as the next text delimiter character '-'.
@ON 1 PRINT PATTERN "*BCD'
The hit string is 'ABCD' since it extends to the left as far as the next text delimiter character '-'.
Example 3
@ON & PRINT 'This ""string"" contains no ''X''.'
In this case, the search is conducted for the string
This "string" contains no 'X'.