\ (Escape)

Causes the following character to be treated literally, or as a hex code in a character string; indicates continuation of a command on the subsequent line.

Syntax #1

Causes the character that follows it in a string to be treated literally.

\char

Parameters

char

any single character that is to be treated literally in a character string

Syntax #2

Causes certain characters that follow it in a string to be treated as hexadecimal code.

\char1char2

Parameters

char1	either digits from 0 to 9, or letters from A (a) to F ( f), that together comprise a hexadecimal character code
char2	either digits from 0 to 9, or letters from A (a) to F ( f), that together comprise a hexadecimal character code

Syntax #3

Indicates the continuation of a command onto a subsequent line.

commandstart \
remainder

Parameters

commandstart	any portion, from the beginning, of one command
remainder	the remaining portion(s) of the same command

Comments

In a character string, the escape operator causes the next character to be treated literally or as a hex code. Outside of a character string, it indicates that a command continues on the next line.

Example

"This is a quote (\"); this is a backslash (\\)"
output "\0F"
let x = 10 \
    y = 5 \
    z = 2

% (Wildcard)

Used with the LIKE operator to construct patterns for matching.

Comments

Used with the LIKE operator in logic expressions, the % wildcard matches zero or any number of subsequent characters when the pattern on the right is compared to expression1.

Example

"_ ob%"

Matches any character string whose second and third letters are ob, followed by zero or more characters (i.e., “Robert”, “Bob”, “Cobbler”, etc.).

compute Employees where LastName like "_ a%n"

Processes all records whose LastName values are three characters or more, the second character being an a and the last character being an n.

Grade like "100\%"

Shows the percent sign being used literally in a string. (The first backslash “escapes” the second backslash, which, in turn, “escapes” the percent sign, turning it into a literal character.)

find Parts where PartDesc like "%\\%"

Finds parts whose part description contains a backslash.

FirstName like $ concat(" S_e%p", SuffixVariable)

Assuming that SuffixVariable is “%”, then the above expression is logically true if FirstName matches the pattern “S_e%p%”.

The LIKE Operator, The %Wildcard and SQL Servers

The LIKE Operator with %Wildcard sometimes operate differently in SQL servers than in ZIM. The following construction:

find Parts where PartDesc like "%e"

in some SQL servers might only retrieve records when the PartDesc ends exactly with an “e” in the last position of the field. If PartDesc is 5 characters long, the “rode” and “are” will not be retrieved, whereas “there” and “force” will be.

To solve this situation, the above construction must be written this way:

find Parts where $trim(PartDesc) like "%e"

ZIM Comment Block << >>

(Program template delimiters)

<< your code >>

Quickly marks a large block of code that you want to prevent from running or that you want to be generated by the GENERATE command by putting the delimiters at the start and end of an output section in a template program.

Syntax

Place a two less than characters before the start of the code.

<<
code / statements
>>

Place a two greater than characters at the end of your code.

Parameters

code \ statements

one or more command statements, typically using macros, to send to the current output destination when the program containing them is processed with a GENERATE command

Comments

The program template delimiters, << and >>, must appear alone on a physical line in the application document. When the program is executed, parsed, or compiled, the statements between the delimiters are ignored.

When the program is run under the GENERATE command, the statements are sent as output, after macro substitution, to the current output device.

Example

… commands1 …
<<
… commands2 …
>>
… commands3 …

Under normal execution, commands1 and commands3 execute normally; commands2 are ignored.

When the program is parsed or compiled, commands1 and commands3 are parsed or complied in the usual manner; commands2 are ignored.

When the GENERATE command is used, commands1 and commands3 execute normally; commands2 are sent as output, after macro substitution, to the current output device.

< > (Macro name delimiters)

Marks the start and end of a macro name in an application program.

Syntax

<name>

Parameters

name

The name to be assigned to a global macro, or a digit from 0 to 9 referring to one of the local macros belonging to the current macro program.

Comments

A macro is a dynamically declared name that represents a character string. When a macro call is encountered in an application program, the macro call is replaced by the current character value of the macro.

A macro acquires values in one of two ways: implicitly, when the software encounters a call to a previously unknown global macro or unassigned local macro, or explicitly, in a LET or INPUT statement or a call to a local macro.

Example

let <EntSet> = "ENTS"
let <Name> = "EntName"

Defines the global macro to represent the string ENT. Then the statement

list #<EntSet> format #<Name>

is interpreted as

list ENTs format EntName

% (Comment)

Marks the start of a comment in an application program.

Syntax

[ZIMcommand] % comment

Parameters

ZIMcommand	Any portion of a command that appears on one line in an application program.
comment	Any string of characters, normally a few words explaining either ZIMcommand or an entire section of the program. The command parser ignores comment.

Comments

The percent sign marks the start of a comment in an application program.

Example

% Process accelerators
form set (not scroll) fPlayers     % switch off scrolling
case
when Event.EventName = "F3"    % "Exit" accelerator
return           % terminate main procedure
when Event.EventName = "F4"    % "Update" accelerator
UpdatePlayers ()
when Event.EventName = "F5"    % "Add" accelerator
AddPlayers (PlayersAdded)
when Event.EventName = "F6"    % "Delete" accelerator
DeletePlayers (PlayersDeleted)
when Event.EventName = "F7"    % "Report" accelerator
ReportPlayers ()
endcase

? (Wildcard)

Matches all subsequent characters in a value.

Syntax

expression1 = expression2 ?

Parameters

expression1	A character string, or a variable or form field that evaluates to a character string.
expression2	A character string, or a variable or form field that evaluates to a character string.

Comments

Used with the equals sign in logic expressions, the ? wildcard matches any number of subsequent characters when expression2 is compared to expression1. The question mark must appear outside of the pattern string.

Example

DeptNum = "D56"?

Logically true if the department number begins with the string “D56”. Notice that the question mark must appear outside the string.

RemarkField = "Smith?"

Shows the question mark being used literally in a string. (The characters appear inside the quotation marks.) The expression is logically true only if Remarkfield contains the exact characters Smith?.

Surname = fCustomer.LastName?

Shows how the wildcard can be attached directly to an atomic expression employing a variable, local variable, form field, or formal parameter, provided the object is of a character data type. (Trailing blanks in the specified object are trimmed for pattern-matching purposes.)

$ (Template line join)

In a template program, indicates that the next line is to be joined to the current line at the output destination.

Syntax

linestart «$
linecontinue »

where

linestart	any portion, from the beginning, of an output line
linecontinue	the remaining portion(s) of the same output line

Comments

In a template program, the dollar sign ($) indicates that the next line is to be joined to the current line at the output destination.

Normally, each physical line in a template is sent as a separate line to the current output destination. To cause successive physical lines in a template to be joined into one line in the output, end the appropriate lines in the template with the dollar sign ($).

If a line must end with a dollar sign for some other reason, ask the software to interpret the dollar sign by placing a backslash ( – Escape) preceding the dollar sign.

#(Macro call)

Marks a call to a macro in an application program.

Syntax

#<macroname>

where

macroname

The name of a global or local macro.

Return Value

A macro call returns the current value of the macro or the null string (”).

Comments

This command calls a particular macro in an application program.

A macro is a dynamically declared name that represents a character string. When a macro call is encountered in an application program, the macro call is replaced by the current character value of the macro.

Programs with macro references cannot be compiled because the macros take the current references at the time of the compilation.

Example

Example of Using # (Macro call) and <> (Macro name delimiters)

let  = "ENT"

Defines the global macro to represent the string ENT. Then the statement

list #s format #Name

is interpreted as

list ENTs format ENTName

_ (Wildcard)

Used with the LIKE operator to construct patterns for matching.

Comments

Used with the LIKE operator in logic expressions, the _ wildcard matches any single character when the pattern on the right is compared to expression.

Example

"_ob%"

Matches any character string whose second and third letters are ob, followed by zero or more characters (i.e., “Robert”, “Bob”, “Cobbler”, etc.).

compute Employees where LastName like "_a%n"

Processes all records whose LastName values are three characters or more, the second character being an a and the last character being an n.

Grade like "100\%"

Shows the per cent sign being used literally in a string. (The first backslash “escapes” the second backslash, which, in turn, “escapes” the per cent sign, turning it into a literal character.)

find Parts where PartDesc like "%\\%"

Finds PARTS whose part description contains a backslash.

FirstName like $concat("S_e%p",SuffixVariable)

Assuming that SuffixVariable is “%”, then the above expression is logically true if FirstName matches the pattern “S_e%p%”.

Syntax #1

Parameters

Syntax #2

Parameters

Syntax #3

Parameters

Comments

Example

See Also

Comments

Example

The LIKE Operator, The %Wildcard and SQL Servers

See Also

<< your code >>

Syntax

Parameters

Comments

Example

Syntax

Parameters

Comments

Example

See Also

Syntax

Parameters

Comments

Example

Syntax

Parameters

Comments

Example

Syntax

Comments

Syntax

Return Value

Comments

Example

Comments

Example