DEDIT: Extracting or Adding Characters

How to:

If your configuration uses a DBCS code page, you can use the DEDIT function to extract characters from or add characters to a string.

DEDIT works by comparing the characters in a mask to the characters in a source field. When it encounters a nine (9) in the mask, DEDIT copies the corresponding character from the source field to the new field. When it encounters a dollar sign ($) in the mask, DEDIT ignores the corresponding character in the source field. When it encounters any other character in the mask, DEDIT copies that character to the corresponding position in the new field.

Syntax: How to Extract or Add DBCS or SBCS Characters 

DEDIT(inlength, source_string, mask_length, mask, output)

where:

inlength

Integer

Is the number of bytes in source_string. The string can have a mixture of DBCS and SBCS characters. Therefore, the number of bytes represents the maximum number of characters possible in the source string.

source_string

Alphanumeric

Is the string to edit enclosed in single quotation marks ('), or the field containing the string.

mask_length

Integer

Is the number of characters in mask.

mask

Alphanumeric

Is the string of mask characters.

Each nine (9) in the mask causes the corresponding character from the source field to be copied to the new field.

Each dollar sign ($) in the mask causes the corresponding character in the source field to be ignored.

Any other character in the mask is copied to the new field.

output

Alphanumeric

Is the field to which the result is returned, or the format of the output value enclosed in single quotation marks (').

Example: Adding and Extracting DBCS Characters

The following example copies alternate characters from the source string to the new field, starting with the first character in the source string, and then adds several new characters at the end of the extracted string:

The following example copies alternate characters from the source string to the new field, starting with the second character in the source string, and then adds several new characters at the end of the extracted string: