PDS Find Command screen

The following figure provides a summary of the PDS FIND command parameters in a fill-in-the-blank format. This screen is invoked by entering the FIND (F) command on the PDS Find/Change screen without any parameters. The FIND command and its parameters can also be entered and processed directly on the PDS Find/Change screen.

PDS Find Command screen

Field Descriptions

Find string

Specify a value to be matched using the comparison specified by the Relational operator parameter. The find string value may be any one of the following data types:

Simple string

An alphanumeric character string that does not contain any single quotes ('), double quotes ( " ), imbedded blanks, or commas. A simple string is not case-sensitive. File-AID finds any combination of upper and lowercase characters matching the search string, regardless of the combination of upper and lowercase characters entered.

Delimited string

A simple string enclosed in single (') or double (") quotation marks.

Delimited strings are not case sensitive. Specify any combination of upper and lowercase characters for the search string and, regardless of the case, any combination of the specified characters is found.

Character string

A delimited string of characters preceded by the letter C. A character string does not translate alphabetic characters to uppercase, and matches only an exact duplicate (including case) of the input string. For example: FIND C'Unit' only finds the string Unit. It does not find unit, UNIT, or uNIT.

Text string

A delimited string of characters preceded by the letter T. A text string is identical to a delimited string and is supported in order to maintain consistency with ISPF/PDF.

Hexadecimal string

A delimited string containing an even number of hexadecimal digits (0-9, A-F), preceded by the character X.

Packed string

A delimited string of decimal digits preceded by the character P.

When a packed string is used, the Start column value must be specified to indicate the location of the packed data.

When the End column is specified, File-AID matches only a packed data item beginning in the Start column and ending in the End column. If the End column field is left blank, File-AID determines the length of the packed field by scanning from the Start column field until it finds a valid sign (F, C, or D).

Numeric string

A delimited string preceded by the character N. A numeric string consists of the digits 0-9 and optionally, a sign (+,-). For example, Find string ===> N'47'.

When a numeric string is specified, a Start column value must be specified. The End column value is optional.

Binary string

A delimited string preceded by the character B. A binary string consists of digits 0-9 and optionally, a sign (+,-). For example, Find string ===> B’47’.

When a binary string is specified, a Start column value must be specified. If the End column value is left blank, File-AID uses four bytes (fullword) for the length of the compare. To compare a halfword, specify the End column value as one byte greater than the Start column value.

Mask string

A delimited string of eight bits (M'00001111') or two hexadecimal digits (M'0F') that indicate which bits to examine. This FIND string data type is used with relational operators (RO) of EQ, NE, NO, and MX only. See discussion of bit relational operators.

Multiple Find Strings:

To specify multiple strings separate the strings with a comma. File-AID interprets the comma as an OR. For example, Find string ===> smith,jones causes File-AID to search for a value of smith or jones.

The syntax of the Find string value is critical because File-AID interprets the comma as an OR. To search for the comma as data, enclose the data in double quotes (" ").

When The Process in JCL format parameter is set to Y (Yes) on the PDS Processing Options screen, File-AID processes a FIND command as follows:

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  • JOB, EXEC, DD, and PROC statements are processed as one logical record. The Find Report screen shows all JCL lines that make up the logical JCL statement.
  • File-AID does not search columns 72 through 80 for the search string, it skips what it assumes is the comments area. We recommend not specifying column boundaries when processing in JCL format.

Start column, End Column

Specify a starting and ending column value for File-AID to search. You may restrict the find operation to a single column by specifying only the Start column value or give File-AID a search range by specifying the Start column and End column values. Data specified for a single column must begin at the Start column position. Data specified for a column range must be contained within the column range.

The End column must be greater than or equal to the Start column. You can enter a Start column without specifying an End column; but you cannot specify an End column without specifying a Start column.

Specifying a Start column and no End column changes the default relational operator to EQ.

If you leave both the Start and End columns blank, File-AID searches the entire length of each record in the member.

Relational operator

Specify one of the following valid relational operators:

CO - Contains (default).

NC - Does not contain.

EQ - Equal.

NE - Not equal.

LT - Less than.

LE - Less than or equal.

GE - Greater than or equal.

GT - Greater than.

BT - Between.

NB - Not between.

View report

Specify whether you want to view the Find report:

Y - Yes (default). Displays the report when the Find processing is complete.

N - No. Redisplays the PDS Find/Change member list when Find processing is complete.

File-AID saves the View report setting in your profile from session to session.

Condense member list

Specify whether you want the current member list condensed as a result of the Find processing. File-AID saves the Condense member listing setting in your profile from session to session:

Y - Yes (default). Redisplays the member list with only those members that contain a match to the Find string value. The number of matches per member are reported in the HITS column.

N - No. Redisplays the member list, without condensing it, with a HITS column reporting the number of Find string matches.

Maximum finds

Specify a value to set a limit for the Find operation. 0 through 999,999 are valid values. The default value is 0 (zero) or ALL which finds all occurrences of the Find string value.

For example, if you enter 10, File-AID stops searching for the Find string after it finds the tenth occurrence.

File-AID saves the Maximum finds setting in your profile from session to session.