Instruction Definitions

The following instruction definitions have been organized as they appear in the Instruction Bar.

 

Locate

Locates (finds, detects) the next character that meets specified criteria and moves the cursor to the beginning of that character.

·        next - Searches for the data after the current cursor position.

·        previous - Searches for the data before the current cursor position.

·        is - Finds the next character that 'is' a character with the specified criteria.

·        is not - Finds the next character that 'is not' a character with the specified criteria.

·        comma - Finds the next comma. Includes ideographic commas; does not include full-width commas.

·        period - Finds the next period. When searching for periods, decimal points are considered periods. Does not include full-with or ideographic periods.

·        space - Find the next space. Includes narrow, non-breaking, and ideographic spaces. Includes narrow, non-breaking, and ideographic spaces.

·        tab - Finds the next tab.

·        alpha - Finds the next alphabetic character. Includes full-width alphabetic characters.

·        digit - Finds the next decimal-digit character. Includes full-width decimal-digit characters.

·        sign - Finds the next sign character. Does not include full-width sign characters.

·        number - Finds the next decimal-digit character. Includes full-width digit characters; does not include ideographic periods.

·        word - Finds the next combination of alphanumeric characters.

·        label - Finds the next combination of alphanumeric characters and whitespaces. Label is the same as Word with addition of the whitespace character. Whitespaces can be spaces, carriage returns, line breaks, or tabs.

·        punctuation - Finds the next character that is not a whitespace or an alphanumeric character.

·        'n' times - Finds the instance of the specified character (e.g. search for the third instance of a character by selecting 3 from the menu).

·        constrain to line - Searches until the end of the current line. If the specified character is not found before the end of the line, the instruction will fail and will not move on to any subsequent instructions. The cursor will return to position it was in before the failed instruction.

·        do not constrain to line - Searches until the end of the current section (e.g. a header). If the specified character is not found within the section, the instruction will fail and will not move on to any subsequent instructions. The cursor will return to position it was in before the failed instruction.

Move to

Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next line, character, or blank line.

·        next - Searches the data after the current caret position.

·        previous - Searches the data before the current caret position.

·        line - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line.

·        character - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the character.

·        blank line - Moves the cursor to the beginning of the blank line.

·        end of last search - Moves the cursor to the end of the last search.

·        'n' times - Searches for the instance of the line or character (e.g. search for the third instance of a character by selecting 3 from the menu).

·        ~ord~ times - Repeats the instruction within a feature until the instruction fails (e.g. selecting 'Move to the next character that is a tab ~ord~ times' will repeat moving to the next tab within the feature until there are no more tabs left in the feature). Tie Features use ~ord~.

·        ~rep~ times - Repeats the instruction within a section until the instruction fails (e.g. selecting 'Move to the next line ~rep~ times' will repeat moving the cursor to the next line until there are no more lines left in the section). Repeating Characteristics use ~rep~.

·        constrain to line - Searches until the end of the current line. If the specified character is not found before the end of the line, the instruction will fail and will not move on to any subsequent instructions. The cursor will return to position it was in before the failed instruction.

·        do not constrain to line - Searches until the end of the current section (e.g. a header). If the specified character is not found within the section, the instruction will fail and will not move on to any subsequent instructions. The cursor will return to position it was in before the failed instruction.

Go to

Sends the cursor to the beginning or end of a line, section, file, or mark.

·        begin - Finds the beginning of a line, section, file or mark.

·        end - Finds the end of a line, section, file or mark.

·        line - Searches within the current line.

·        section - Searches within the current section.

·        file - Searches within the current file.

·        mark - Locates the begin or end mark.

Search for

Searches for data you specify, such as a word or a number.

·        next - Searches the data after the current caret position.

·        previous - Searches the data before the current caret position.

·        string - Searches for a string you specify.

·        one of - Searches for instances of characters. You can search for one character, or you can search for several characters at the same time. You can also search for instances of special characters with this instruction.

·        'n' times - Searches for the instance of the line or character (e.g. search for the third instance of a character by selecting 3 from the menu).

·        ~ord~ times - Repeats the instruction within a feature until the instruction fails (e.g. selecting 'Move to the next character that is a tab ~ord~ times' will repeat moving to the next tab within the feature until there are no more tabs left in the feature). Tie Features use ~ord~.

·        rep times - Searches for the characteristic repeatedly within a section, until it fails to locate another instance of the characteristic. For more information on how to use this, see the topic Repeating Characteristics.

·        ignore case - Disregards the case of characters.

·        do not ignore case - Searches for characters will be case sensitive.

·        constrain to line - Searches until the end of the current line. If the character or string is not found before the end of the line, the instruction will fail and will not move on to any subsequent instructions. The cursor will return to position it was in before the failed instruction.

·        do not constrain to line - Searches until the end of the current section (e.g. a header). If the character or string is not found within the section, the instruction will fail and will not move on to any subsequent instructions. The cursor will return to position it was in before the failed instruction.

·        any character position - Searches for the specified character or string in any position. Selecting a number from the menu will specify a position (e.g. selecting 5 will select the character five spaces from the beginning of the line or five spaces from the end of the line).

·        begin - Places the cursor a selected number of character spaces from the beginning of the line.

·        end - Places the cursor a selected number of character spaces from the beginning of the line.

Mark

DataSmith identifies features and characteristics as it scans your data and marks, or highlights, the data that fits the specified criteria:

·        current position as begin - The current cursor position will be the beginning of the mark.

·        current position as end - The current cursor position will be the end of the mark.

·        current position as begin limit - The current cursor position will be the begin of a limit.

·        current position as end limit - The current cursor position will be the end of a limit.

·        current position as beginBookmark - The current cursor position will be the beginning of a bookmark.

·        current position as endBookmark - The current cursor position will be the end of a bookmark.

·        number at current position - The number at the current cursor position will be highlighted.

·        label at current position - The label at the current cursor position will be highlighted. Labels are strings that include alphanumeric characters and whitespaces. Whitespaces can be spaces, carriage returns, line breaks, or tabs.

·        word at current position - The word at the current cursor position will be highlighted. Words are strings that include alphanumeric characters.

·        line at current position - The line at the current cursor position will be highlighted.

·        cell at current position - The cell at the current cursor position will be highlighted. A 'cell' is the space between two delimiters and will not span multiple lines. Mark Cell cannot be used if the cursor position is on a cell delimiter. Cell delimiters are tabs or commas. Full-width commas are not recognized as a delimiter.

About Bookmarks

Bookmarks are used as placeholders, simply to be able to return to a previous location. You could mark a location as a book mark, execute other instructions, and then use the “Go to begin bookmark” or “Go to end bookmark”. The Bookmarks in DataSmith instructions are not the same as Bookmarks in CM4D Reporter.

Must

The next character after the current cursor position must be or must not be a specified type of character.

·        be - The character must be the specified type of character.

·        not be - The character must not be the specified type of character.

Assign the String

Assigns a value to a characteristic. A string can only be assigned to a characteristic of a feature, not the feature itself. The value assigned to the defined characteristic will override any other instructions. The characteristic will be defined to begin and end at the beginning of the associated feature. It will produce output equal to the assigned value.