Retro1.org codex

ALTER                                                       CMS EDIT subcommand

Use the ALTER subcommand to change a specific character to another character,
one that may not be available on your terminal keyboard.  The ALTER subcommand
allows you to reference characters by their hexadecimal values.  The format of
the ALTER subcommand is:
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ALter    | char1 char2 [1|n|* [G|*]]                                        |
+----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
where:

char1    specifies the character to be altered.  It may be specified either as
         a single character or as a pair of hexadecimal digits (00 through FF).

char2    specifies the character to which char1 is to be altered.  It may be
         specified either as a single character or as a pair of hexadecimal
         digits.

n        indicates the number of lines to be searched for the specified
         character.  If you specify an asterisk (*), all lines in the file,
         beginning with the current line, are searched.  If this option is
         omitted, then only the current line is searched.

G        requests the editor to alter every occurrence of char1 in the lines
         specified.  If G or * is not specified, only the first occurrence of
         char1 in each line specified is altered.


Usage Notes:

1.  If char2 is a hexadecimal value that cannot be represented on your
    terminal, it may appear as a blank, for example:
       input XSLC
       alter X 02
        SLC
    Column 1 contains an X'02', which cannot be displayed.

2.  Use the ZONE subcommand if you want only particular columns searched for a
    specific character.

Responses:

When verification is on, altered lines are displayed at your terminal.


Display Mode Considerations

When you request a global change on a 3270, the display is changed only once,
to reflect the final position of the current line pointer.  The editor displays
a message to indicate the number of lines changed:
   nnnn|NO LINE(S) CHANGED