isCOBOL Evolve : Appendices : Library Routines : C$REPLACE_ALL
C$REPLACE_ALL
The C$REPLACE_ALL library routine allows you to replace parts of text in an alphanumeric variable according to a regular expression.
Syntax
 CALL "C$REPLACE_ALL" USING variable
                            regExp
                            replacement
                           [options]
                           [errorDesc]
                     GIVING returnCode
Parameters
variable
PIC X(n)
Variable subjected to replacement
regExp
PIC X(n)
Regular expression
replacement
PIC X(n)
Text to use as replacement. This text is not trimmed, so trailing spaces will be used as replacement as well.
options
PIC 9(n)
Optional parameter. It’s the sum between two or more of the following values defined in iscobol.def:
CREP_CASE_INSENSITIVE
CREP_LEFT_TRIMMED
CREP_RIGHT_TRIMMED
 
These options affect only variable.
errorDesc
PIC X(n)
Optional parameter. It holds the error description in case of illegal regular expression.
Return code:
returnCode can be any signed numeric data item and provides additional information:
0
operation successful
1
invalid regular expression
2
insufficient parameters
3
malformed replacement
Examples:
Example - Replace a string with another string with different length
*> copy "iscobol.def" in working-storage
*> it’s good practice to define the involved alphanumeric data items as pic x any length.
 
 move "Dear @Name@," to wrk-str
 move "(?i)@NAME@" to search-reg-exp | Search for the tag @NAME@, case insensitive
 move "Christopher" to new-text      | Replace it with the actual name
 call "c$replace-all" using wrk-str 
                            search-reg-exp
                            new-text
                            crep-right-trimmed 
                            W-error
*> wrk-str new value will be "Dear Christopher,"