Numeric patterns are numbers that mark positions in the string. They are used to break the original string into substrings at the position indicated by the number.

The position specified can be absolute or relative:

• An absolute position is specified by an unsigned number.
• A relative position is specified by a signed number (positive or negative) and its purpose it to determine a new position within the string, relative to the last position.
• The last position is one of the following:
  • the start of the string (position 1), if the last position was not specified previously
  • the starting position of a string pattern if a match was found
  • the position of the end of the string, if the string pattern was not matched
  • the last position specified by a numeric pattern
• If the specified position exceeds the length of the string, the numeric pattern is adjusted to the end of the string. Similarly, if the specified position precedes the beginning of the string (negative or zero numeric pattern), then the beginning of the string is used as last position.

  Example 1

  A parsing template with an absolute numeric pattern:

  DO SET=%%S =THIS IS A SAMPLE STRING

  DO SET=%%T = A1 A2 11 A3 A4 A5

  DO SET=%%$PARSE %%S %%T

• First substring: THIS IS A (up to, but not including, position 11)

  As a result of parsing

  A1=THIS
A2=IS A

• Second substring: SAMPLE STRING (from position 11, up to the end of the string).

  As a result of parsing

  A3=SAMPLE
A4=STRING
A5=NULL (0 length string)

  Example 2

  A parsing template with a relative numeric pattern:

  DO SET=%%S =THIS IS A SAMPLE STRING

  DO SET=%%T = A1 A2 +10 A3 A4 A5

  DO SET=%%$PARSE %%S %%T

  Last position is the beginning of the string (position 1).

Position marked within the string is 1 + 10 = 11.

• First substring: THIS IS A (up to, but not including, position 11)

  As a result of parsing

  A1=THIS
A2=IS A

• Second substring: SAMPLE STRING (from position 11, up to the end of the string).

  As a result of parsing:

  A3=SAMPLE
A4=STRING
A5=NULL (0 length string)