Assignment - ONCHAR Pseudovariable

Purpose

Sets the current value of the ONCHAR built-in function.

Syntax

ONCHAR() = string

or

ONCHAR = string

The second syntax form can be used only when ONCHAR has been explicitly declared using the BUILTIN attribute.

Parameters

string: An expression that is converted to a character string of length 1.

Description

The ONCHAR pseudovariable is used to replace the invalid character that caused the CONVERSION condition to be raised. This new character is used when the conversion is attempted again.

The ONCHAR pseudovariable is valid only in the context of a CONVERSION ON-unit. In all other cases the ONCHAR pseudovariable is ignored.

Example

DCL I FIXED BIN(15);
ON CONVERSION BEGIN;
   ONCHAR() = '0'; 
END;

I ='34Z9'; 
PUT LIST(I);

In the above example, an invalid character, 'Z,' is changed to '0'; therefore, the program will display an integer value of 3409.

Restrictions

None.