HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS) Reference Manual (32209-90024)

Chapter 4 155
Advanced Forms Design
PATTERN MATCH
optional, in which case a blank is accepted because
processing specifications are ignored.
For example, 2 or 7654321 or 55 are acceptable.
MATCH Xd+ This pattern accepts the letter X followed by one or more
digits.
For example, X1 or X2345, and so forth are acceptable, but
not X.
MATCH M{A,C,d}+ A plus sign after a pair of braces indicates repetition of
any item within the braces, in any order.
Some acceptable values are MA, MCCC, or M12333CAA9.
MATCH d* The asterisk indicates
optional repetition that allows
zero or more occurrences of the pattern. Thus, the digit
can be omitted, or repeated any number of times.
For example, nothing, or 3, or 123456, and so forth are
acceptable matches.
MATCH [d+] This pattern is another way of expressing the pattern
shown above as d*.
MATCH a* Accepts any alphabetic or empty string.
MATCH Xu* This pattern accepts X alone, or followed by any number of
uppercase letters.
For example, XABC or XX or X are all acceptable.
MATCH M{A,C,d}* Any of the enclosed characters can be repeated in any
order, or can be omitted.
Thus, M is acceptable, as are MAA, MCCAC12, MA63CCA5,
and so forth.
Operator Hierarchy
Table 4-5. summarizes the operators allowed in a MATCH pattern. The pattern operators are
evaluated in the following order, where x and y are any patterns:
Highest !x Transparency
| x:y Range
| x+ or x* Repetition
v xy Concatenation
Lowest x,y Choice