UNSTRING Statement

UNSTRING statement takes a single string, breaks it down into several separate strings, and places them into the variables.
It breaks the strings into multiple stings based on the delimiter.
It does the task of several MOVE statements.
UNSTRING requires a minimum of two receiving variables.
It is applicable only to alphabetic and alpha-numeric items and not applicable to numeric items.

Syntax -

---+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5
UNSTRING source-string 
       [DELIMITED BY delimiter1] 
       INTO target-string-1 [target-string-2 ...]
       [TALLYING IN counter-name]
       [ON OVERFLOW statements-block-1]
   [NOT ON OVERFLOW statements-block-2]
[END-UNSTRING].

Note! All statements coded in [ ] are optional.

Parameters -

source-string - Specifies the input string that we want to break down.
DELIMITED BY delimiter1 - The delimiter1 is used to specify where to split the string. If it's not coded, then each character is considered separately.
INTO target-item-1 [target-item-2 ...] - Specifies the target variables where the divided strings should be placed.
TALLYING IN - Count the number of characters transferred to the target items.
ON OVERFLOW statements-block-1 - Specifies the statements block executed when ON OVERFLOW occurs.
NOT ON OVERFLOW statement-block-2 - Specifies the statements block executed when the STRING operation is successful.
END-UNSTRING - Explicit scope terminator for the UNSTRING statement.

Practical Example -

Scenario - Split the string using UNSTRING statement.

Code -

Full Example

----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----
       ...
       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 WS-VAR.
          05 WS-INPUT       PIC X(70) VALUE
             "Mainframestechhelp, is a Mainframe Community".
          05 WS-OUTPUT1     PIC X(30).
          05 WS-OUTPUT2     PIC X(40).
       ...
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
           UNSTRING WS-INPUT DELIMITED BY ","
               INTO WS-OUTPUT1, WS-OUTPUT2
                    ON OVERFLOW DISPLAY "ERROR OCCURED"
                NOT ON OVERFLOW
                        DISPLAY "WS-OUTPUT1:  ", WS-OUTPUT1 
                        DISPLAY "WS-OUTPUT2:  ", WS-OUTPUT2 
           END-UNSTRING.
           ...

Output -

WS-OUTPUT1:  Mainframestechhelp
WS-OUTPUT2:  is a Mainframe Community