Canon Cat Reference Manual page 92

The Cat
finds
fields
by countingleld separators, which
are
tabs or break characters.
If
the
record is
made
up
of
fields
separated
by
tabs
(whether
or
not
the
record
is
a
line
of
tabbed
columns),
the
first field
is whatever
appears
at
the
beginning of
the
line,
the second
field
is after
the
first
tab, the
third field
is after the
second
tab, and
so
on.
The
Cat counts
tabs and breaks,
ignoring
the
position of
the
field
on
the
screen. In other words
fields
do not have to be
aligned
in
columns.
You can
have
an unlimited
number
of
fields
within
records.Spaces
do not
separate
fields.
"Al
Xanadu"
will
sort
to
a position closer to the top
of
the
list
than
"Alan
Baily"
unless tabs are used
to
separate
first
and
last names
into two fields
("A1"
comes before
"Ala",
as
in
"Alan").
Changing the Record Separator
By
changing the record separator
you
can sort chunks
of
text that
end
in
one,
two,
or three
retums.
If
you
select
two
or more breaks
as
the record
separator,
returns may
also
help define
a
field. If
the
record
separator is one
retum, any
return ends the record.
A
single
retum
cannot
separate
fields. However, if
the record separator is
two returns, the
same
return would
separate
fields.
In
the
examples
below,
tabs
separate
"Clinf'
and
"Cou-
gar".
Tabs also
separate
"El
Paso,"
"TX",
and
*77777".
When
the
record
separator is
two
breaks, the
entire
address
is
a
single
record. Any
part
ofthe
address
can be used
as
a
reference
in
sorting.
An
address
when the record separator is one break:
FIELD
1
FIELD 2
RE∞
RDl .―
cl－
Int C●
り 懸
aF
The same address、 vhen thc record separatoristwo breaks:
FIELD l F!ELD 2
RECORD l
魃 黎 晰
,
FIELD 4 FIELD 5 F:ELD 6 FIELD 3