Variables

A variable is a sequence of bytes, or a string, that can be set to an initial value, appended to and cleared.   It can be output to any destination and used to define a subpattern of a pattern.

To define or modify a variable :

1. Select the Definitions | Variables menu option to open the Variables dialog :

screen shot: variable definition dialog

2. In the Tag column, enter the variable's identifier (tag).

3. In the Type column, press F1.   Select one of the variable types in the Select Type dialog :

  Byte     any sequence of byte (0-255) values  
  String     any ASCII string  
  Wide string     any wide (Unicode) string  

4. After the desired variable type is chosen a new dialog is started that allows entry of the variable's initial value.   For the "string" types simply enter the desired text.   In the "byte" type dialog enter the desired sequence of byte values.   The initial value need not be entered - any variable can start out in the "cleared" (empty) state.

5. The user may check the "Ignore case" checkbox for a variable.   This applies to strings used to define a subpattern of a pattern - when this box is checked the string's case is ignored when determining whether or not the pattern has been recognized.