HELPLIB.HLB  —  EXTRACT  Qualifiers

1    /BLOCKS

  /BLOCKS[=(option,...)]

   Similar to DUMP/BLOCKS; extracts blocks from the input file(s) without
   interpreting their record structure.

   Up to two of the following options may be specified; if more than one
   is used, separate them with a comma and enclose the list in parentheses.

   START=m   starting block number; the first block in the file is 1.
             A negative value specifies a number of blocks relative
             to the end of the file:  -1 is the last block, -2 is the
             one before that, etc.

   END=n     ending block number; the last block of the file is
             considered to be block number -1.

   COUNT=k   number of blocks to extract.  If START is specified, END
             is derived by adding COUNT-1 to it; if END is specified,
             START is derived by subracting COUNT-1 from it; if neither
             is specified, START is 1 and END is set to COUNT.

   Incompatable with /RECORDS, /HEAD, and /TAIL.  Also incompatable
   with /COLUMNS, /EXPAND_TABS, /TRANSLATE, and /VFC_HEADER.

2    /COLUMNS

  /COLUMNS=([-,]column_range,...)

   Select or reject certain columns within extracted records before
   writing them to the output file.  'column_range' is either a single
   column number or a low and high pair separated by "-" or ":".  If
   more than one range is desired, separate them with commas and enclose
   the list in parentheses.  If the first element of the list is "-",
   then the rest of the list represents columns to reject rather than
   ones to select.

   If the first range begins with ":" (ie, ":20") then column 1 is
   implied; if the last range ends with ":" (ie, "41:") or ":*" then
   the end of the record is implied.

   Note:  the output record consists of the selected columns in their
   original relative positions, not in the order listed in /COLUMNS.
   That is, /COLUMNS=(25:30,5:10) produces the same output as the list
   (5:10,25:30).

3    /EDIT

  /EDIT=(option,...)

   Perform one or more of various modifications to extracted records
   before writing them to the output file.  The available functions
   include all options of the DCL F$EDIT() lexical function plus
   several extensions:
        COLLAPSE, COMPRESS, LOWERCASE, TRIM, UNCOMMENT, UPCASE,
        STRIP_TRAILING, IGNORE_QUOTES, FALLBACK, FORMAT.

   If more than one option is specified, separate them with commas and
   enclose the list within parentheses.

   See "edit_options" for more information.

4    /EXPAND_TABS

  /[NO]EXPAND_TABS

   Convert ASCII tab characters into spaces.  Tab stops are considered
   to be positioned at every 8th column:  9, 17, 25, ...

   By default, tabs are expanded if extraction by columns (/COLUMNS=xxx)
   or translation into  EBCDIC  (/TRANSLATE=ASCII_TO_EBCDIC) is requested
   or lines are being numbered (/NUMBERS), and left as tabs otherwise.

   Tab expansion is never performed if translation from EBCDIC into ASCII
   (/TRANSLATE=EBCDIC_TO_ASCII) is requested.

5    /HEAD

  /HEAD[=count]

   Extract records from the beginning of the file(s).  'count' is the
   number of records to extract; if not present, the default value is 22.

   A negative 'count' value designates the number records at the end of
   the file to omit.  That is, /HEAD=-5 will extract every record in the
   file except for the last 5.

   Incompatable with /BLOCKS, /RECORDS, and /TAIL.

6    /IDENTIFY

  /[NO]IDENTIFY

   Determines whether to display the input file name before performing
   extraction upon its contents.  By default, the file identification
   is performed if the input file specification is a list of files,
   contains any wildcards, or includes a search list.  /IDENTIFY forces
   identification; /NOIDENTIFY suppresses identication.

   Note:  the file identification is written to the same destination as
   the extracted data, so it should normally be suppressed if the data
   is being translated into EBCDIC or if vfc-headers are kept.

7    /INDEX

  /INDEX=n

   Specifies an alternate key of reference for indexed files.  Has no
   effect for sequential or relative files.  The default is index 0.

8    /NUMBERS

  /[NO]NUMBERS

   Controls whether output lines are prefixed by the line number of the
   input record.  Format is a formatted number, then one space, then the
   text of the extracted record.  The number is formatted using the
   smallest width of 4, 6, 8, or 11 columns that can hold the value.
   Default is /NONUMBERS for unnumbered output.

   Use of /NUMBERS affects the default for /[NO]EXPAND_TABS.

9    /OUTPUT

  /OUTPUT[=file]

   Specifies the output file.  Output is written to SYS$OUTPUT by default.
   File format is variable length records with implied carriage return
   (ie, standard text file format), unless whole records are extracted
   from a file having fixed length records.  /VFC_HEADER=KEEP will produce
   a VFC format output file (but only if the input file has VFC format).

10    /RECORDS

  /RECORDS[=(option,...)]

   Similar to DUMP/RECORDS but with more flexibility in indicating which
   records.  Extracts specified records from the input file(s).

   Up to two of the following options may be specified; if more than one
   is used, separate them with a comma and enclose the list in parentheses.

   START=m   starting record number; the first record in the file is 1.
             A negative value specifies a number of records relative
             to the end of the file:  -1 is the last record, -2 is the
             one before that, etc.

   END=n     ending record number; the last record of the file is
             considered to be record number -1.

   COUNT=k   number of records to extract.  If START is specified, END
             is derived by adding COUNT-1 to it; if END is specified,
             START is derived by subracting COUNT-1 from it; if neither
             is specified, START is 1 and END is set to COUNT.

   Incompatable with /BLOCKS, /HEAD, and /TAIL.

11    /TAIL

  /TAIL[=count]

   Extract records from the end of the file(s).  'count' is the number
   of records to extract; if not present, the default value is 22.

   A negative 'count' value designates the number records at the start
   of the file to omit.  That is, /TAIL=-5 will extract the entire file
   except for the first 5 records.

   Incompatable with /BLOCKS, /RECORDS, and /HEAD.

12    /TRANSLATE

  /TRANSLATE={ ASCII_TO_EBCDIC | EBCDIC_TO_ASCII }

   Translate data (which is assumed to represent simple character text)
   from ASCII into EBCDIC or vice versa.  One of the two keywords must
   be specified.  If ASCII_TO_EBCDIC is used then tab expansion is done
   unless /NOEXPAND_TABS is specified.  If the reverse is used, no tab
   expansion will be attempted regardless of /expand_tabs.

   Translation from EBCDIC into ASCII is done before any modifications
   from /EDIT are performed; translation from ASCII into EBCDIC is done
   after any requested edits are performed.

13    /VFC_HEADER

  /VFC_HEADER={ IGNORE | DATA | KEEP }

   Specifies how to handle files in variable-with-fixed-control-area
   format (such as batch .log files).  By default, the control area is
   ignored.  /VFC_HEADER=DATA causes the control area, which is normally
   hidden, to be treated as part of the normal record contents.  A value
   of KEEP causes the output file to have the same format as the input
   file (rather, as the *first* input file if there is more than one).
   If the [first] input file is not in VFC format, /VFC_HEADER=KEEP has
   no effect.
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