The P code compares data to a specified pattern of numeric, alphabetic, alphanumeric, or literal characters. Patterns must be enclosed in parentheses and may be specified as outlined in the syntax description.
Format
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P (pattern) [; (pattern)…] |
Parameter(s)
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pattern |
Can be specified using any of the specifications below. |
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nA |
Integer followed by the letter A, which tests for n alphabetic characters |
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nN |
Integer followed by the letter N, which tests for n numeric characters. |
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nX |
Integer followed by the letter X, which tests for n alphanumeric characters. |
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'string ' |
Literal string, which tests for that literal string. The string must be enclosed in single quotes. Single-character delimiters need not be treated as literal strings—that is, they need not be enclosed in quotation marks. |
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; |
(semicolon) May be used to test for more than one pattern. |
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Example
For example, to test for telephone numbers of 7, 10, and 11 digits, use this P correlative:
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P (3N-4N) ; (3N-3N-4N) ; (1N-3N-3N-4N) |
In this example, the P correlative ensures that only Social Security numbers are included in INFO/ACCESS reports:
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P (3N-2N-4N) |
The preceding P code tests for strings of exactly three numbers, then a hyphen, then exactly two numbers, then a hyphen, then exactly four numbers.
See Also