(—Column Shift Left

The ( (column shift left) line command moves characters on a line to the left without altering their relative spacing. Characters shifted past the current BOUNDS setting are deleted. See Shifting data for more information.

Syntax


      .-2-.   
>>-(--+---+----------------------------------------------------><
      '-n-'


       .-2-.   
>>-((--+---+---------------------------------------------------><
       '-n-'

n: A number that tells the ISPF editor how many positions to shift. If you omit this operand, the default is 2.

Description

To column shift one line toward the left side of your display:

Type ( in the line command field of the line to be shifted. Beside the command, type a number other than 2 if you want to shift the line other than 2 columns.
Press Enter.

To column shift a block of lines toward the left side of your display:

Type (( in the line command field of the first line to be shifted. Beside the command, type a number other than 2 if you want to shift the block of lines other than 2 columns.
Type (( in the line command field of the last line to be shifted. You can scroll (or use FIND or LOCATE) between typing the first (( and the second ((, if necessary.
Press Enter. The lines that contain the two (( commands and all of the lines between them are column shifted to the left.

The BOUNDS setting limits column shifting. If you shift columns beyond the current BOUNDS setting, the editor deletes the text beyond the BOUNDS without displaying a warning message.

Examples

To shift a group of lines to the left three column positions, specify the number of columns and the range in the line command field, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Before the ( (Column Shift Left) line command

Press Enter and the editor shifts the specified lines three columns to the right. See Figure 2.

Figure 2. After the ( (Column Shift Left) line command