When building a customized Parser definition table, follow these guidelines to ensure that the Parser Customization process functions properly.
Uppercase and Lowercase
- You can insert or modify entries in the table in either uppercase or lowercase except Mask entries. The value for a Mask entry must be entered in lowercase.
- The Parser Customization uppercases all entries during compile except Mask entries. The Mask entries stay in lowercase.
- If you need to delete entries which include lowercase letters, you must modify them first to uppercase except Mask entries. You can delete Mask entries without modifying them to uppercase.
Comment Lines
Comment lines can be added to any entry. They can include only alphanumeric characters, and can be identified in two different ways: with a forward slash and an asterisk in column 1 on a separate line or with a double forward slash on the same line.
Example 1
'AARON' NAME BEG ATT=GVN-NM1,GEN=M
/* Gender is required with a GVN-NM1 attribute.
Example 2
'AARON' NAME BEG ATT=GVN-NM1,GEN=M // Gender is required with a GVN-NM1 attribute.
Line Lengths
- In the CDP, table entries longer than one line may span multiple lines. Each additional line within each entry must be indented. Each new entry must begin in column 1. In the BDP, only pattern definitions can extend across more than one line.
- In the CDP/BDP, the maximum line length for entries is 1000 characters, including the new line character.
- The token length may not exceed 100 characters for the CDP and 500 characters for the BDP.
Quotation Marks
Entries enclosed by single quotation marks (‘) are processed as one entity. If you want to include a single quotation mark, use double quotation marks. Double quotation marks (") will be converted to single quotation marks. For example:
'O"BRIEN' NAME END ATT=SRNM
If a recode string contains more than one word, the entire string must be entered in single quotes. For example:
'AS TRUSTEE FOR’ SYNONYM=’TRUSTEE FOR’
‘MEBAR HARBER_’ GEOG DEF ATT=CITY-CHG, REC=’MEBAR HARBOR’
- Do not include the following values within the single quotes of the recode value: equal sign (=), single quote ('), double quote ("), and comma (,).
- You can use the caret (^) as an escape character in combination with double quotes. For example, DD^"R will translate into DD"R while DD^^"R will translate into DD^"R.