ZONE   [?|n[m]]
Z

There are commands, the result of which depends on the location of a certain character string within the line that has to be worked on. To make the use of the command ZONE easier to understand, we will have a look at the command SSPLIT, at first.

ssplit /abc/

means, as you know, that the current line should be split in two parts at the beginning of the character string `abc'. Sometimes you might want that this only happens if `abc' occurs in column 10 but not if the string comes before column 10. The command SSPLIT offers the option to specify the desired area directly, but in some cases it might be more appropriate to restrict both the command SSPLIT and similar commands to a certain column area. The command ZONE provides this option.

Specifying one column in the ZONE command, you restrict the operating area in such a way that it starts at the column specified and extends to the end of the record.

By specifying two columns you define the beginning and the end of the operation area within the record.

ZONE ? shows the current setting.

ZONE without parameter restores the default setting without any restriction.

The working area set by ZONE affects the commands CHANGE, the LOCATE family, SSPLIT, and TRANSLAT.