System Functions

SEP( )

Return Field Separator

Format

SEP(chan)

Where:

chan

Channel or logical file number of an OPEN file.

Returns

Either the SEP value (single character string) for an OPEN file on given channel or "" (null).

Description

The SEP( ) function returns either a single character string, SEP (the field separator value in Hex) for a given file OPEN on a given channel, or "" (null).

The value returned is the value you set in the SEP= option when creating a Keyed or Indexed file (a single character string which can be anything from $00$ to $FF$). The function returns "" (null) for a dynamic field separated file (a Keyed or Indexed file created using a SEP=* option). With this type of file, the system stores each field in the record with a 1-byte prefix identifying the type and length of data that immediately follows.

**Special * Option:
Using SEP(*) allows the programmer to access the table of potential separator characters. The first character is the system DEFAULT field separator. See DEF SEP** directive.

(The ability to have a SEP table was added in PxPlus v7.00.)

Example