Syntax for format strings in field specifications

{ }

Ranges

(The default setting is for a character/number to occur exactly once. Using { } creates a custom range.)

Examples: 0{5}, 0{1-5}

Meaning: A range with an exact number of occurrences {n} or a varied but limited number {n-m}

Possible matches: 00000 and 0, 00, 000, 0000, 00000 respectively

A

Uppercase alphabetic characters

(Predefined set)

Example: A{2-5}

Meaning: An alphabetic field containing 2 to 5 uppercase characters

Possible matches: AB, XYZ, ABDDE, etc.

a

Lowercase alphabetic characters

(Predefined set)

Example: a{1-3}

Meaning: An alphabetic field containing 1 to 3 lowercase characters

Possible matches: a, ab, abc, etc.

N or n

Numeric characters

(Predefined set)

Example: N{7}

Meaning: A numeric field containing any 7 digits

Possible matches: 1234567, 7123456, 3334447, etc.

O or o

Special characters corresponding to the language specification. Such characters could be ?, :, &, etc

(Predefined set)

Example: O N{2}

Meaning: A field containing 1 special character followed by any 2 numeric characters

Possible matches: $10, #99, %75, etc.

X or x

Alphanumeric characters and special characters such as #, >, etc

(Predefined set)

Example: X{5}

Meaning: A field containing five characters, each of which can be a lower or uppercase letter, a number, or a special character

Possible matches: ABc3D, #bD61, $1500, etc.

.

Any character except <space>

Example: .

Meaning: A decimal/period represents any character, except <space>

Possible matches: a, B, 3, $, !, <space>, etc.

\

Explicit characters

Examples: \a, \8, \?

Meaning: A backslash followed by any single character matches that exact character

Matches: a, 8 and ? respectively

' '

Explicit strings

Examples: 'The Total', 'date', ' '

Meaning: A string enclosed within single quotation marks matches that exact string (case sensitive)

Matches: The Total, date and <space> respectively

-

Specific characters to remove from the beginning or end of a string

Example: N{4} -'#'?

Meaning: The # character, if any, is removed when this four-digit field proceeds to output.

Field value example: 1234#

Output: 1234

CaseIns

Case insensitive strings

Example: CaseIns'the needles'

Meaning: The "CaseIns" keyword, followed by a string enclosed with single quotation marks matches that exact string but is not case sensitive

Possible matches: The needles, THE Needles, tHe NEEdles, etc.

[ ]

A specified set or range

Examples: [139], [1-9]

Meaning: A field containing any single character from the set or range enclosed in brackets.

Possible matches: 1, 3, 9, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 respectively

^

Complements to a set or range

Example: [^123]

Meaning: A field containing any single character not found in the set or range enclosed in brackets.

Possible matches: 4, 5, 6, 7, ?, #, a, A, b, B etc.

*

A range of "zero to many" for the character or string specified

Examples: 'blah'*, 'Ch' \e* 'se'

Meaning: A field containing, in these examples, 0 to many of the string "blah" and 0 to many of the single character "e".

Possible matches: <empty>, blah, blahblah, blahblahblah and Chse, Chese, Cheese, Cheeese, etc.

?

Zero or one occurrences of the character or string specified

Example: 'cat' \s?

Meaning: A field containing one or no "s" after the specified string.

Possible matches: cat, cats

|

The expression "or", separating two elements or groups where one or the other is allowed

Example: (N{5} | N{10})

Meaning: The "or" operator is used to allow a field containing either five or ten digits

Possible matches: 00001, 12345, 0123456789, 1010101010, etc.

( )

A group of expressions

Example: ('one' | 'two') 'three'

Meaning: A field containing the character strings "one" or "two", and then "three"

Possible matches: one three, two three

[1-5]N{3-11}

(4 to 12 numbers, where the first is in the range from 1-5)

Possible matches: 1111, 12345

Does not match: 65432122

[A-Z0-9]{3}N{7}

(10 characters where the first 3 are uppercase letters and numbers and the last 7 are numbers)

Possible matches: ABC123456, 1234567890

Does not match: ABCD123456

(X|’ ’){0-20}

Free text including spaces, 0-20 characters

Possible matches: t+2&G, 12aA 345

Does not match: 123456789012345678901

(N{4}\-\0[1-3]\-N{2}) | (N{2} ' ' CaseIns'january'| CaseIns'february'|CaseIns'March' ' ' N{4})

(Dates during the first three months of the year)

Possible matches: 1974-03-31, 31 March 1974, 2003-03-24, 23 March 2003

Does not match: 2001-09-11, 21-february-2002