Logical Expressions - Comparison Operators for Character-Type Fields

In some cases, the syntax rules that apply to Unicode programs are different than those for non-Unicode programs. See Processing Strings in Unicode Programs.

In the condition " c1 op c2", the comparison operator op between the fields c1 and c2 may be any of the operations listed below, but c1 and c2 must be character- type fields ( C, STRING, N, D, T).

1. CO (Contains Only):
   
   c1 contains only characters from the string c2.
   If c1 or c2 is of type C, the comparison takes into account the full length of the field, including blanks at the end.
   comparison.
   If c1 is of type STRING and empty, the result of the comparison is always positive.
   If c2 is of type STRING and empty, the result of the comparison is always negative, unless c1 is also an empty string.
   If the result of the comparison is negative, the field SY-FDPOS contains the offset of the first character in c1 which is not also included in c2.
   If the result of the comparison is positive, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the length of c1.
   The comparison is case-sensitive.
   
   Examples:
   
   'ABCDE' CO 'XYZ' is false; SY-FDPOS = 0.
   'ABCDE' CO 'AB' is false; SY-FDPOS = 2.
   'ABCDE' CO 'ABCDE' is true; SY-FDPOS = 5.
   
   
   
2. CN (Contains Not only):
   "c1 CN c2" is equivalent to " NOT ( c1 CO c2 )".
   c1 contains not only characters from c2.
   If the result of the comparison is positive, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the offset of the first character in c1 which is not also in c2.
   If the result of the comparison is negative, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the length of c1.
   
   
   
3. CA (Contains Any):
   c1 contains at least one character from the string c2.
   If c1 or c2 is of type C, the comparison takes into account the full length of the field, including blanks at the end.
   If c1 or c2 is of type STRING and empty, the result of the comparison is always negative.
   If the result of the comparison is positive, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the offset of the first character in c1 which is also in c2.
   If the result of the comparison is negative, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the length of c1.
   The comparison is case-sensitive.
   
   Examples:
   
   'ABCDE' CA 'CY' is true; SY-FDPOS = 2.
   'ABCDE' CA 'XY' is false; SY-FDPOS = 5.
   
   
   
4. NA (contains Not Any):
   "c1 NA c2" is equivalent to "NOT ( c1 CA c2 )".
   c1 contains no characters from c2.
   SY-FDPOS is set accordingly.
   
   
   
5. CS (Contains String):
   c1 contains the character string c2.
   Trailing blanks in c1 and c2 are ignored if the respective field is of type C.
   An empty string c2 (i.e., only blanks with type C, or empty string with type STRING) is included in any string c1, including the empty string itself. On the other hand, there is no non-empty string c2 included in an empty string c1.
   If the result of the comparison is positive, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the offset of the first character of c2 in c1.
   If the result of the comparison is negative, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the length of c1.
   The comparison is not case-sensitive.
   
   Examples:
   
   'ABCDE' CS 'CD' is true; SY-FDPOS = 2.
   'ABCDE' CS 'XY' is false; SY-FDPOS = 5.
   'ABAAA' CS 'AB ' is true; SY-FDPOS = 0.
   ' ABC' CS ' AB' is true; SY-FDPOS = 1.
   'ABC DEF' CS ' ' is true; but: SY-FDPOS = 0,
   since ' ' is interpreted as a trailing blank and is thus
   ignored.
   
   
   
6. NS (contains No String):
   "c1 NS c2" is equivalent to " NOT ( c1 CS c2 )".
   c1 does not contain c2.
   SY-FDPOS is set accordingly.
   
7. CP (Contains Pattern):
   The complete string c1 matches the pattern c2 (c1 "matches" c2).
   The pattern c2 can contain ordinary characters and wildcards.
   '*' stands for any character string and '+' denotes any character.
   If the result of the comparison is positive, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the offset of the first character of c2 in c1. The wildcard character '*' at the beginning of the pattern c2 is ignored when determining the value of SY-FDPOS.
   If the result of the comparison is negative, the system field SY-FDPOS contains the length of c1.
   
   Examples:
   
   'ABCDE' CP '*CD*' is true; SY-FDPOS = 2.
   'ABCDE' CP '*CD' is false; SY-FDPOS = 5.
   'ABCDE' CP '++CD+' is true; SY-FDPOS = 0.
   'ABCDE' CP '+CD*' is false; SY-FDPOS = 5.
   'ABCDE' CP '*B*D*' is true; SY-FDPOS = 1.
   
   The character '#' has a special meaning. It serves as an escape symbol and indicates that the very next character should be compared "exactly".
   This allows you to search for:
   
   - characters in upper or lower case
   e.g.: c1 CP '*#A#b*'
   - the wildcard characters '*', '+' themselves
   e.g.: c1 CP '*#**' or c1 CP '*#+*'
   - the escape symbol itself
   e.g.: c1 CP '*##*'
   - blanks at the end of c1
   e.g.: c1 CP '*# '
   
   If c2 does not contain the wildcard character '*', the shorter field is padded with "soft blanks" to bring it up to the length of the longer field.
   
   Examples:
   
   'ABC' CP 'ABC ' is true,
   'ABC ' CP 'ABC' is true,
   
   but
   
   'ABC' CP 'ABC+' is false,
   'ABC' CP 'ABC# ' is false,
   
   because a "soft blank" is neither any character ('+') nor a "real" blank ('# ').
   
   The escape symbol does not affect the length of f2 ('A#a#B' still has the length 3).
   The comparison is not case-sensitive.
   
   
   
8. NP (contains No Pattern):
   "c1 NP c2" is equivalent to " NOT ( c1 CP c2 )"
   c1 does not match c2.
   
   
   

Additional help

Comparing Character Strings