INCLUDE Alphanumeric Tests

INCLUDE Alphanumeric Tests

Alphanumeric tests allow us to filter records based on conditions involving character (alphanumeric) data. These tests are used in the INCLUDE to retain records depending on whether they satisfy specific alphanumeric conditions.

Syntax -

//SYSIN DD * 
    SORT FIELDS=COPY
    INCLUDE COND=(field1_starting_position, field1_length, field1_format,
		 relational_operator, alphanumeric_system_defined_type)
/*
field1_starting_positionSpecifies the starting position of field1 to be compared
field1_lengthSpecifies the length of the field1 to be compared
field1_formatSpecifies the format of the field1. Use BI (Binary) for Alphanumeric tests
relational_operatorused for condition comparison. The available operators are - 
EQ 		Equal to
NE 		Not equal to
GT 		Greater than
GE 		Greater than or equal to
LT 		Less than
LE 		Less than or equal to
alphanumeric_system_defined_typeSpecifies the alphanumeric character type. The valid types are given below - 
UC: Uppercase characters (A-Z)
LC: Lowercase characters (a-z)
MC: Mixed case characters (A-Z, a-z)
UN: Uppercase and numeric characters (A-Z, 0-9)
LN: Lowercase and numeric characters (a-z, 0-9)
MN: Mixed case and numeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9)

Examples -

Scenario1 - Include records where a field equals a specific string 

//SYSIN   DD *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  INCLUDE COND=(1,3,CH,EQ,C'ABC')
/*

Includes records where the first 3 bytes equal 'ABC'.

Scenario2 - Include records where a field is equal to alphanumeric value 1234 . 

//SYSIN   DD *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  INCLUDE COND=(5,4,CH,NE,C'1234')
/*

Includes records where the 4-byte field starting at position 5 is equal to 1234.

Scenario3 - Include records where a field falls within a alphanumeric values range.

//SYSIN   DD *
  SORT FIELDS=COPY
  INCLUDE COND=(20,6,CH,GE,C'100',AND,20,6,CH,LE,C'200')
/*

Includes records where the 6-byte field starting at position 20 falls within the alphanumeric values range 100 to 200.

Full Example