In this section, the tools available within an EASAP to process and manipulate data are described.

Data Processing is used with EASAPs to process and manipulate data. The data to be processed can be data entered by users or data read from a file.

• Introduction To Data Processing

The main parent object under which all the available data processing tools reside is the Data Processing object. The Data Processing object itself is parameter-less. Its main role is to act as a parent object, to a collection of children data processing objects.

• DATA PROCESSING

Below is a reference list of the various SCALAR's and LIST's under DATA PROCESSING:

• DATA PROCESSING Objects

A very important concept used in the creation of an EASAP is the use of ‘Delimited Object References’ or DORs. The basic idea is to utilize special syntax to facilitate the substitution of object values into other object’s parameter values and into files read by underlying software applications.

• Delimited Object References.

A powerful feature of an EASAP is its ability to dynamically update content available to users without modifying the EASAP. This task is accomplished by accessing a text file each time an EASAP is initiated and extracting out all necessary information from the file for the EASAP to use.

• Extracting Data From Files.

The Search, Replace, Repeated Search and Repeated Replace objects all handle Regular Expressions.

• Regular Expressions