USERMASK

Specifies a user mask that identifies a symbol and string for matching field data.

USERMASK={n,'symbolvalue'}{,'stringvalue' | X'stringvalue'}

The values are:

n

Indicates the number of the user mask. Valid values are 1 - 4.

'symbolvalue'

Indicates a character that represents the characters in the stringvalue or the field mask. All printable characters except # @ = ¬ ^ % are valid. The symbolvalue does not match its literal value in the field data. For example, ACIF does not match an asterisk (*) symbol with an * in the field data.

'stringvalue' | X'stringvalue'

Indicates one or more characters you want to match to field data. When the input data file is anything other than single-byte EBCDIC, the character string must be specified in hexadecimal.

The following example shows how to use USERMASK to match specific characters that might appear in the field column:

USERMASK=1,'*','AaBbCc'    
FIELD3=*,*,15,(OFFSET=(10:24),MASK='*@@@@@@@@@@@@@@',ORDER=BYROW)

In this example, USERMASK causes ACIF to match an uppercase or lowercase A, B, or C in the first position of a 15-character string, such as a name.

A user mask can also match one of the field mask symbols. ACIF reserves the symbols # @ = ¬ ^ % for the field mask. If the field data contains one of the mask symbols, you must define a user mask so that ACIF can find a match. For example,

USERMASK=2,'*','%'
FIELD4=*,*,3,(OFFSET=(10:12),MASK='##*',ORDER=BYROW)

In this example, ACIF matches a 3-character string that contains two numerics and the percent sign (%), such as 85%.