# System Functions

SEP( ) | Return Field Separator

## Format

SEP(chan)

Where:

chan | Channel or logical file number of an OPEN file.

## Returns

Either the SEP value (single character string) for an OPEN file on given channel or "" (null).

## Description

The SEP( ) function returns either a single character string, SEP (the field separator value in Hex) for a given file OPEN on a given channel, or "" (null).

The value returned is the value you set in the SEP= option when creating a Keyed or Indexed file (a single character string which can be anything from $00$ to $FF$). The function returns "" (null) for a dynamic field separated file (a Keyed or Indexed file created using a SEP=* option). With this type of file, the system stores each field in the record with a 1-byte prefix identifying the type and length of data that immediately follows.

#### Special * Option:
Using SEP(*) allows the programmer to access the table of potential separator characters. The first character is the system DEFAULT field separator. See DEF SEP directive.

(The ability to have a SEP table was added in PxPlus v7.00.)

## Example

open (14)"pvx_dir"
?hta(sep(14))
8A