Bselect And Bdelete Commands; Points To Note - Oce XDL Reference Manual

BSELECT and BDELETE Commands

The MASK parameter specifies a masking character. The CONSTANT parameter specifies
both the constant data being compared and the character positions which contain variable
data which are not being compared. In this example, positions 1 through 5 (DATE=) as well
as positions 8 and 11 (the /'s) of the specified character string contain fixed data. Positions
6, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 13, which are identified by the mask character (:), contain variable data
and are not compared. Header page count has been set to zero because criteria defining
header pages have not been specified.
4.6 BSELECT and BDELETE Commands
Interspersed blocks within one offline report or file may be either selected for or deleted
from printing by use of the BDELETE and BSELECT commands.
TEST
These commands can also be used selectively to delete specialized blocks, for example,
control blocks and unsupported labels, that are on the data tape but are not to be printed.
Syntax for the TEST parameter of BSELECT and BDELETE commands is as follows.
Parameter
TEST=
test-exp

4.6.1 Points to note

Note the following when using the BSELECT and BDELETE commands:
• It is important to note that block selection or block deletion is performed before the ex-
traction of the records from the block. If a block is deleted from or not selected for print-
ing, none of the records contained within that block are processed or are available for
any other logical processing functions.
• If a block does not match the same format as the normal blocks, it can be deleted and
thus not cause a processing error. For example, a control block in a fixed blocked file
may cause a processing error unless it is first deleted.
• When defining TABLE CONSTANTS or CHANGE parameters, offsets to subfields of a
block specify in bytes, relative to zero from the start of block to the beginning of subfield.
150
Definition(s)
test-exp
The format and syntax of a test-exp are defined in the "Test expression definition"
section. The block is selected (BSELECT) for printing or deleted (BDELETE) if a
test-exp is satisfied.
There is no default.
Using Logical Processing
A29247-X4-X-8-7672