Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!motcid!king
From: king@motcid.UUCP (Steven King)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.rexx
Subject: Re: Question about Parsing
Message-ID: <5520@orchid3.UUCP>
Date: 29 Nov 90 19:33:53 GMT
References: <9304@ncar.ucar.edu>
Organization: Motorola Inc. - Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Lines: 41

In article <9304@ncar.ucar.edu> tparker@bierstadt.scd.ucar.edu (Tom Parker) writes:
>In parsing, I know you can use a string pattern in a variable, by putting
>it in parentheses.  For example:
> 
>         slash = '/'
>         parse value 'dog/cat' with word1 (slash) word2
> 
>But I can't find how to use a NUMERIC pattern in a variable.  For
>example, I might want to break a string at a specific column determined
>by the program.  Simplistic example:
> 
>         column = 4
>         parse value 'dog/cat' with word1 (column) word2
> 
>will use '4' as a string pattern, rather than as a number pattern.

You're trying to parse everything *BEFORE* the fourth column into the
variable "word1" and everything *AFTER* the fourth column into "word2".  Try
it this way:

	parse value 'dog/cat' with 1 word1 4 . 5 word2

This template tells REXX to start start parsing the first variable in column
1, the second variable (".", the dummy variable) in column 4, and the third
variable in column 5.  You'll end up with "word1" set to "dog" and "word2"
set to "cat".  The slash will be assigned to the dummy variable and
discarded.

By the way, to parse on a single character (or a string for that matter) you
don't need to fool around with assigning it to a variable and putting it in
parentheses if you don't want to.  Simply,

	parse value 'dog/cat' with word1 "/" word2

will work just fine to assign "dog" to "word1" and "cat" to "word2".

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