COBOL Manual for TNS/E Programs (H06.08+, J06.03+)

source-string
is the identifier of an elementary item or data structure with USAGE DISPLAY. Inspection
proceeds from left to right within source-string.
replacing-phrase
absolute-replacement
CHARACTERS
specifies that any character in source-string can be replaced, regardless of its
value. If you use CHARACTERS, replace-string and delim-string must each
be one character in length.
replace-string
is the identifier of an elementary item with USAGE DISPLAY or a nonnumeric literal. It
can be a figurative constant that does not include the keyword ALL, in which case it
represents one character.
position
marks a starting and ending place for a replacement cycle. It follows the same item
rules as replace-string. A CHARACTERS phrase, ALL phrase, LEADING phrase,
or FIRST phrase can have a single BEFORE phrase, a single AFTER phrase, or one
BEFORE phrase and one AFTER phrase in either order.
BEFORE
specifies that scanning is up to but not including the character or characters matching
delim-string. If INSPECT does not find delim-string in source-string,
it scans all of source-string.
350 Procedure Division Verbs