STRING, PSTRING, and QSTRING

The Parse Service Routine builds a two-word PDE to describe a STRING, PSTRING, or a QSTRING operand; the PDE has the following format:

Offset decimal	Meaning
0	A pointer to the character string
4	Length
6	Flags
7	Reserved

Pointer to the character string:

contains a pointer to the beginning of the character string, or a zero if the operand was omitted.

Length:

contains the length of the string. Any punctuation around the character string is not included in this length figure. The length is zero if the string is omitted or if the string is null.

Flags:

Setting	Meaning
`0... ....`	The operand is not present.
`1... ....`	The operand is present.
`.xxx xxxx`	Reserved bits.

Note: If the string is null, the pointer is set, the length is zero, and the flag bit is 1.