Character string manipulation
Before the different types of DAL and JAL statements are discussed, an understanding of the character string manipulation capabilities available to you in DAL and JAL is necessary. DAL and JAL provide facilities to simplify the "interrogation" of DD and Job Descriptors that contain character strings, for example the job name. The following building blocks are available:
- A general pattern matching function: This is your "character string comparator" mechanism.
- Wildcard characters: These are special characters to make comparisons easier.
- A substring function: A way to extract portions of character strings.
- A pattern definition function: A way to create "comparison patterns."
- Pattern definition extensions: A way to define and check for specific types of data within character Descriptors.
- A string definition function: A way to create new character strings.
- A string concatenation operator: A way to join two strings to create a new one.
- A data set name pattern matching function: A way to simplify data set name comparisons.
- A Binding Agent name pattern matching function: A way to simplify Agent name comparisons.
With the exception of the extensions necessary to support the special requirements of DAL and JAL, these building blocks and the way they are used are probably familiar. They employ the same conventions used in other systems, such as programming languages or commands. By employing these services and techniques, your DAL or JAL can perform all the "character-string" related functions needed to decide how to handle the job.
The following sections do not attempt to describe these facilities completely. For a formal description of the syntax and usage, see to the reference spaces:
- DAL Reference Guide
- JAL Reference Guide