SPANL

    Creates a pattern matching the longest possible string containing
    characters that are in the specified string, range, or buffer.  A
    pattern created with SPANL can match text containing line breaks.

 Syntax

    pattern := SPANL ({string | range | buffer} [, {FORWARD | REVERSE}])

    Parameters

    string               A string containing the characters that VAXTPU is
                         to match in the searched text.

    range                A range containing the characters that VAXTPU is
                         to match in the searched text.

    buffer               A buffer containing the characters that VAXTPU is
                         to match in the searched text.

    FORWARD              A keyword directing VAXTPU to match characters in
                         the forward direction.

    REVERSE              A keyword directing VAXTPU to match characters as
                         follows:  First, match characters in the forward
                         direction until VAXTPU finds a character that is
                         not a member of the set of characters in the
                         specified buffer, range, or string.  Next, return
                         to the first character that SPANL matched and
                         start matching characters and line ends in the
                         reverse direction until VAXTPU finds a character
                         not in the specified buffer, range, or string.
                         You can specify REVERSE only if you are using
                         SPANL in the first element of a pattern being used
                         in a reverse search.  In other contexts,
                         specifying REVERSE has no effect.

                         The behavior enabled by REVERSE allows an
                         alternate form of reverse search.  By default, a
                         reverse search stops as soon as a successful match
                         occurs, even if there might have been a longer
                         successful match in the reverse direction.  By
                         specifying REVERSE with SPANL, you direct VAXTPU
                         not to stop matching in either direction until it
                         has matched as many characters as possible.

 Comments

    SPANL matches one or more characters, each of which must appear in the
    string, range, or buffer passed as the parameter, and one or more line
    breaks.  To match one or more line breaks and nothing else, specify a
    null string as a parameter to SPANL.

 Examples

    1.  pat1 := SPANL ("1234567890");

        Creates a pattern matching any number and sequence of contiguous
        digits on one or more lines.

    2.  pat1 := SPANL ("1234567890", FORWARD);

        This statement has exactly the same effect as Example 1.

    3.  pat1 := SPANL (" ");

        Stores a pattern in the variable "pat1" matching the longest
        sequence of blank characters starting at the current character
        position and continuing to an end-of-search condition.

    4.  vowel_pattern := SPANL ('aeiouy', REVERSE);

        This statement defines the variable "vowel_pattern" to mean the
        longest string of characters that are all vowels.  If you use the
        following statement:

        the_range := SEARCH (vowel_pattern, REVERSE);

        when the cursor is on the "a" in the word "liaison", then the
        variable "the_range" contains the string "iai".  This is because
        when you use SPANL with REVERSE as the first element of a pattern,
        and then use that pattern in a reverse search, SPAN matches as many
        characters as possible in both the forward and reverse directions.

        If the cursor is on the "a" but you define the variable
        "vowel_pattern" without the REVERSE keyword, like this:

        vowel_pattern := SCAN ('aeiouy');

        and then do a reverse search, "the_range" contains the string "ai",
        showing that the search matched from the starting point forward but
        did not return to the starting point to match backward as well.

 Related Topics

 ANCHOR       ANY        ARB              MATCH     NOTANY     SCAN
 SCANL        SEARCH     SEARCH_QUIETLY   SPAN      UNANCHOR