Limiting the search to specified columns

The left_col and right_col operands allow you to search only a portion of each line, rather than the entire line. These operands, which are numbers separated by a comma or by at least one blank, show the starting and ending columns for the search. These rules apply:

• If you specify neither left_col nor right_col, the search continues across all columns within the current boundary columns.
• If you specify only left_col, the editor finds the string only if the string starts in the specified column.
• If you specify both left_col and right_col, the editor finds the string only if it is entirely within the specified columns.