Depending on the operands, the search range can be searched through from either left to right or from right to left (R operand). By default, EDT searches the lines from left to right.
When a search is performed in a line, an operand can be entered to control as of how many occurrences a search term is considered to be a hit. By default, the first occurrence of the search term in a line is considered to be a hit.
Once the search term has been found, the @ON statement performs certain actions depending on the format in question.
Then, depending on the operand specification (ALL operand), the search for further hits in a line may be continued. In this case, the @ON statement takes account of the fact that the individual hit strings may not overlap.
This also applies if the hit strings are of variable length because the wildcard asterisk is interpreted or because a search is performed for text delimiter characters.
If the search is performed from left to right, the @ON statement therefore continues after the hit string. If the search is performed from right to left, the search for further hits is restricted to the columns located in front of the hit string.
As of the search for the second hit, every further occurrence of the search term in a line is considered to be a hit. By default, the @ON statement only identifies the first hit within a line.