Phrase-constant parts
One type of phrase part is a constant. Phrase-constants are written with literal characters, strings, named characters, or character classes. Character classes are phrase-constant parts that can match one of several different characters on input.
This table shows examples of phrase-constant parts:
Phrase-constant part | Description |
---|---|
X | Matches the character X in the input, and generates an X character on output. |
XYZ | Essentially equivalent to ‘X’; ‘Y’; ‘Z’. |
<ack> | Matches the ACK character (decimal value 6) on input, and generates one on output. |
letter | Matches any letter (A-Z, a-z) on input. It cannot display in a writable phrase except within the body of a phrase part. |
Note: In the current implementation, you
protect a character class by a field phrase part.