Editing Data Sets › Edit Commands › Primary Commands › CHANGE › Change Command "From" and "To" Character Strings of Different Lengths

Change Command "From" and "To" Character Strings of Different Lengths

The from and to character strings can be different lengths when you use change commands. The change command functions in one of the following ways, depending on the type of data set and the PDSCHG profile setting for PDS members.

For all sequential or VSAM data sets, or PDS members with the PDSCHG value set to DATA

When the to character string is shorter than the from character string, columns to the right of the from string are shifted left and fill characters are added to the end within the bounded CHANGE area. A pop-up window displays in which you can specify a different fill character.

When the to character string is longer than the from character string, columns to the right of the to string are shifted right and excess characters at the end are truncated within the bounded CHANGE area.

For PDS members with PDSCHG value set to ISPF

When the to character string is shorter than the from character string, subsequent bytes until the next two consecutive blanks are moved to the left by the number of bytes equal to the difference in lengths.

When the to character string is longer than the from character string, multiple consecutive blanks are eliminated until the number of blanks eliminated equals the difference in lengths.