MOVE

This document covers the following topics:

For an explanation of the symbols used in the syntax diagrams below, see Syntax Symbols.

Related Statements: ADD | COMPRESS | COMPUTE | DIVIDE | EXAMINE | MULTIPLY | RESET | SEPARATE | SUBTRACT

Belongs to Function Group: Arithmetic and Data Movement Operations

Function

The MOVE statement is used to move the value of an operand to one or more operands (field or array).

If a database field is used as the result field, the MOVE operation results in an update only to the internal value of the field as used within the program. The value of the field in the database remains unchanged.

A Natural system function may be used only if the MOVE statement is specified in conjunction with an AT BREAK, AT END OF DATA or AT END OF PAGE statement.

See also the section Rules for Arithmetic Assignment in the Programming Guide.

Syntax 1 - MOVE

MOVE [ROUNDED] operand1 [(parameter)] TO operand2

For an explanation of the symbols used in the syntax diagrams below, see Syntax Symbols.

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A   N A U N P I F B D T L C G O yes no
operand2   S A   M A U N P I F B D T L C G O yes yes

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE ROUNDED
MOVE ROUNDED Option:

This option causes operand2 to be rounded.

ROUNDED is ignored if operand2 is not numeric or if the source operand has the same or less precision digits than the target operand.

See also Example 1 - Various Samples of MOVE Statement Usage.

operand1
operand2

Source and Target Operands:

operand1 is the source operand whose value is moved to the target operand operand2.

For the rules for data transfer and information on data conversion and transfer compatibility, see the section Data Transfer in the Programming Guide.

If operand2 is a dynamic variable, its length may be modified by the MOVE operation. The current length of a dynamic variable can be ascertained by using the system variable *LENGTH. For general information on the dynamic variable, see the section Using Dynamic and Large Variables in the Programming Guide.

A MOVE statement with multiple target operands is identical to the corresponding individual MOVE statements: 

MOVE #SOURCE TO #TARGET1 #TARGET2

is identical to

MOVE #SOURCE TO #TARGET1 
MOVE #SOURCE TO #TARGET2
parameter
Parameter Option:

parameter either specifies the session parameter PM or the session parameter DF:

PM=I   
Right-to-Left Display Option:

In order to support languages whose writing direction is from right to left, you can specify PM=I so as to transfer the value of operand1 in inverse (right-to-left) direction to operand2.

For example, as a result of the following statements, the content of #B would be ZYX: 

MOVE 'XYZ' TO #A
MOVE #A (PM=I) TO #B

PM=I can only be specified if operand2 has alphanumeric/Unicode format (Natural data format A or U).

Any trailing blanks in operand1 will be removed , then the value is reversed and moved to operand2. If operand1 is not of alphanumeric/Unicode format, the value will be converted to alphanumeric/Unicode format before it is reversed.

See also the use of PM=I in conjunction with MOVE LEFT/RIGHT JUSTIFIED.

   
DF=S|I|L
Date Format:

If operand1 is a date variable and operand2 is an alphanumeric/Unicode field, you can specify the session parameter DF as parameter for this date variable.

Syntax 2 - MOVE SUBSTRING

MOVE  

operand1
SUBSTRING (operand1,operand3,operand4)

[(parameter)]
  TO

operand2
SUBSTRING (operand2,operand5,operand6)

 

This syntax only applies if you want to move only part of the field contents (a substring) of a source and/or target operand. Otherwise, Syntax 1 applies.

For an explanation of the symbols used in the syntax diagrams below, see Syntax Symbols.

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A     A U         B             yes no
operand2   S A     A U         B             yes no
operand3 C S           N P I   B*             yes no
operand4 C S           N P I   B*             yes no
operand5 C S           N P I   B*             yes no
operand6 C S           N P I   B*             yes no

* See text.

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE SUBSTRING
MOVE SUBSTRING:

Without the SUBSTRING option, the whole content of a field is moved.

The SUBSTRING option allows you to move only a certain part of an alphanumeric/ Unicode or a binary field. After the field name (operand1) in the SUBSTRING clause, you specify first the starting position (operand3) and then the length (operand4) of the field portion to be moved.

If the underlying field format of operand1 is

  • alphanumeric/Unicode (A) or binary (B), then the values supplied with operand3 or operand4 are considered as byte numbers;

  • Unicode (U), then the values supplied with operand3 or operand4 are considered as number of Unicode code units; that is, as double-bytes.

For example, to move the 5th to 12th position inclusive of the value in a field #A into a field #B, you would specify: 

MOVE SUBSTRING(#A,5,8) TO #B

If operand1 is a dynamic variable, the specified field portion to be moved must be within its current length; otherwise, a runtime error will occur.

Also, you can move a value of an alphanumeric/Unicode or binary field into a certain part of the target field. After the field name (operand2) in the SUBSTRING clause you specify first the starting position (operand5) and then the length (operand6) of the field portion into which the value is to be moved.

If the underlying field format of operand2 is

  • alphanumeric/Unicode (A/U) or binary (B), then the values supplied with operand5 or operand6 are considered as byte numbers;

  • Unicode (U), then the values supplied with operand3 or operand4 are considered as number of Unicode code units; that is, as double-bytes.

For example, to move the value of a field #A into the 3rd to 6th position inclusive of a field #B, you would specify: 

MOVE #A TO SUBSTRING(#B,3,4)

If operand2 is a dynamic variable, the specified starting position (operand5) must not be greater than the variable's current length plus 1; a greater starting position will lead to a runtime error, because it would cause an undefined gap within the content of operand2.

If operand3/operand5 or operand4/operand6 is a binary variable, it may be used only with a length of less than or equal to 4.

If you omit operand3/operand5, the starting position is assumed to be 1. If you omit operand4/operand6, the length is assumed to range from the starting position to the end of the field.

If operand2 is a dynamic variable and the specified starting position (operand5) is the variable's current length plus 1, which means that the MOVE operation is used to increase the length of the variable, operand6 must be specified in order to determine the new length of the variable.

Note:
MOVE with the SUBSTRING option is a byte-by-byte move (that is, the rules described under Rules for Arithmetic Assignment in the Programming Guide do not apply).

parameter
Parameter Option:
See parameter in Syntax 1.

Syntax 3 - MOVE BY NAME / POSITION

MOVE BY

[NAME]

operand1 TO operand2
POSITION

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1       G                           yes no
operand2       G                           yes no

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE BY NAME operand1 TO operand2
MOVE BY NAME Option:

This option is used to move individual fields contained in a data structure to another data structure, independent of their position in the structure.

A field is moved only if its name appears in both structures (this includes REDEFINEd fields as well as fields resulting from a redefinition). The individual fields may be of any format. The operands can also be views.

Note:
The sequence of the individual moves is determined by the sequence of the fields in operand1.

See also Example 2 - MOVE BY NAME Statement.

MOVE BY NAME with Arrays:

If the data structures contain arrays, these will internally be assigned the index (*) when moved; this may lead to an error if the arrays do not comply with the rules for assignment operations with arrays; see the section Processing of Arrays in the Programming Guide.

See also Example 3 - MOVE BY NAME with Arrays.

MOVE BY POSITION operand1 TO operand2
MOVE BY POSITION Option:

This option allows you to move the contents of fields in a group to another group, regardless of the field names.

The values are moved field by field from one group to the other in the order in which the fields are defined (this does not include fields resulting from a redefinition).

The individual fields may be of any format. The number of fields in each group must be the same; also, the level structure and array dimensions of the fields must match. Format conversion is done according to the rules for arithmetic assignment; see the section Rules for Arithmetic Assignments in the Programming Guide. The operands can also be views.

See also Example 4 - MOVE BY POSITION.

Syntax 4 - MOVE EDITED (Edit Mask Specified with operand2)

MOVE EDITED operand1 TO operand2

(EM=value)

(EMU=value)

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A     A U         B             yes no
operand2   S A     A U N P I F B D T L       yes yes

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE EDITED
MOVE EDITED Option:

If an edit mask is specified for operand2, the value of operand1 will be placed into operand2 using this edit mask.

The edit mask can be considered as an input edit mask for operand2, that is used to specify at which positions in the alphanumeric/Unicode contents of operand1 the significant input data for operand2 can be found.

If the edit mask refers more characters or digits than existent in operand2, it is truncated accordingly. The length of operand1 may not be smaller than the length of the input value represented by the edit mask. If operand1 is longer than the edit mask length, all the overhanging data is ignored.

Under the pre-condition not to have an operand1 length larger than the edit mask length, you may regard a 

MOVE EDITED operand1 TO operand2 (EM=value)

operation like the execution of

STACK TOP DATA operand1
INPUT operand2 (EM=value)

See also Example 1 - Various Samples of MOVE Statement Usage.

EM
Edit Mask:

For details on edit masks, see the session parameter EM in the Parameter Reference.

EMU
Unicode Edit Mask:

For details on Unicode edit masks, see the session parameter EMU in the Parameter Reference.

Syntax 5 - MOVE EDITED (Edit Mask Specified with operand1)

MOVE EDITED operand1

(EM=value)

TO operand2
(EMU=value)

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A   N A U N P I F B D T L       yes no
operand2   S A     A U         B             yes yes

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE EDITED
MOVE EDITED Option:

If an edit mask is specified for operand1, the edit mask will be applied to operand1 and the result will be moved to operand2.

The edit mask can be considered as an output edit mask for operand1, that is used to create an alphanumeric/Unicode string with the layout and length described by the edit mask. Besides data characters or digits originating from operand1, you may include additional decoration characters into the output string.

If the edit mask refers more characters or digits than existent in operand1, it is truncated accordingly. The length of the created output string (resulting from operand1 value after the edit mask has been applied) must not exceed the length of operand2.

Under the pre-condition not to have an operand2 length smaller than the edit mask length, you may regard a 

MOVE EDITED operand1 (EM=value) TO operand2

operation like a

WRITE operand1 (EM=value)

that does not write the output to the screen, but fills it into variable operand2.

See also Example 1 - Various Samples of MOVE Statement Usage.

EM
Edit Mask:

For details on edit masks, see the session parameter EM in the Parameter Reference.

EMU
Unicode Edit Mask:

For details on Unicode edit masks, see the session parameter EMU in the Parameter Reference.

Syntax 6 - MOVE LEFT / RIGHT JUSTIFIED

MOVE

LEFT

[JUSTIFIED] operand1 [(parameter)] TO operand2
RIGHT

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A   N A U N P I F B D T L       yes no
operand2   S A     A U                       yes yes

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE LEFT / RIGHT JUSTIFIED
MOVE LEFT / RIGHT JUSTIFIED Options:

This option is used to cause the values to be moved to be left- or right-justified in operand2.

MOVE LEFT/RIGHT JUSTIFIED cannot be used if operand2 is a dynamic variable.

MOVE LEFT JUSTIFIED
MOVE LEFT Option:

With MOVE LEFT JUSTIFIED, any leading blanks in operand1 are removed before the value is placed left-justified into operand2. The remainder of operand2 will then be filled with blanks. If the value is longer than operand2, the value will be truncated on the right-hand side.

MOVE RIGHT JUSTIFIED
RIGHT JUSTIFIED Option:

With MOVE RIGHT JUSTIFIED, any trailing blanks in operand1 are truncated before the value is placed right-justified into operand2. The remainder of operand2 will then be filled with blanks. If the value is longer than operand2, the value will be truncated on the left-hand side.

See also Example 1 - Various Samples of MOVE Statement Usage.

parameter
Parameter:

When you use MOVE LEFT/RIGHT JUSTIFIED in conjunction with PM=I, the move is performed in the following steps:

  1. If operand1 is not of alphanumeric/Unicode format, the value is converted to alphanumeric/Unicode format.

  2. Any trailing blanks in operand1 are removed.

  3. In the case of LEFT JUSTIFIED, any leading blanks in operand1 are also removed.

  4. The value is reversed, and then moved to operand2.

  5. If applicable, the remainder of operand2 is filled with blanks, or the value is truncated (see above).

Syntax 7 - MOVE NORMALIZED

The MOVE NORMALIZED statement converts a Unicode string into the "Unicode Normalization Form C" (NFC). The resulting Unicode string does no longer contain combining sequences for characters which are available as pre-composed characters.

If the format of the target operand is not Unicode itself, an implicit conversion from Unicode into the target operand takes place - during this conversion the default code page (see system variable *CODEPAGE) will be used.

For further information on the MOVE NORMALIZED statement, see the section Statements in the Unicode and Code Page Support documentation.

Syntax Diagram:

MOVE NORMALIZED operand1 TO operand2

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A       U                       yes no
operand2   S A     A U                       yes yes

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE NORMALIZED
MOVE NORMALIZED Option:

This option is used to convert Unicode fields with potentially unnormalized content into the "Unicode Normalization Form C" (NFC). This composite form of a Unicode string does not contain combining sequences for characters which are available as pre-composed characters. See also: http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr15/#Canonical_Composition_Examples ("Normalization Forms D and C Examples").

Example: 

MOVE NORMALIZED #SCR TO #TGT
operand1
Source Operand:

operand1 contains the Unicode string to be converted.

operand2
Target Operand:

operand2 receives the converted Unicode string.

Example:

Some code points have different representations in Unicode. For example, the German letter 'Ä': the decomposed representation in Unicode is U+0041 followed by U+0308 and uses a combining character (U+0308); another representation is the pre-composed character U+00C4. The MOVE NORMALIZED statement converts the Unicode representation with combining characters into a normalized Unicode representation using pre-composed characters, where possible.

Syntax 8 - MOVE ENCODED

This section explains the syntax of the MOVE ENCODED statement. For information on the purpose of this statement, see the section Statements in the Unicode and Code Page Support documentation.

Syntax Diagram:

MOVE ENCODED
   operand1 [[IN] CODEPAGE operand2] TO
   operand3 [[IN] CODEPAGE operand4]
   [GIVING operand5]

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S A     A U B                     yes no
operand2   S       A U                       yes no
operand3   S       A U B                     yes yes
operand4   S A     A U                       yes no
operand5   S             I4                   yes yes

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
MOVE ENCODED
MOVE ENCODED Option:

This option converts a character string, encoded in one code page, into the equivalent character string of another code page.

Note:
Natural uses the International Components for Unicode (ICU) library for Unicode conversion. For more information, see the ICU User Guide at http://userguide.icu-project.org/.

operand1
Source Operand:

operand1 contains the string to be converted.

CODEPAGE operand2
Code Page of Source Operand:

As operand2, you specify the code page of operand1.

Can only be supplied if operand1 is of format A or B. See Note 1.

TO operand3
Target Operand:

operand3 receives the converted string.

If the conversion result does not fit into the target field, the result is padded or truncated, respectively, and as padding character the blank of the resulting code page is used.

If the target field is defined as a dynamic variable, no padding or truncation is needed, since the length of the dynamic variable is automatically adjusted to the length of the conversion result.

CODEPAGE operand4
Code Page of Target Operand:

As operand4, you specify the code page of operand3.

Can only be supplied if operand3 is of format A or B. See Note 1.

GIVING operand5
GIVING Clause:

If you omit this clause, a Natural error message is returned if an error occurs.

If you specify the keyword GIVING, operand5 returns 0 or the Natural error code instead of the Natural error message.

If the target gets truncated, no Natural error message is given, but when the keyword GIVING is used, operand5 will contain an appropriate error code to indicate truncation.

Notes:

  1. If a code page operand is not supplied, then the default code page (value of the system variable *CODEPAGE) is used.
  2. If the session parameter CPCVERR in the statement SET GLOBALS or in the system command GLOBALS is set to ON, an error is output if at least one character of the source field could not be converted properly into the destination code page, but was replaced in the target field by a substitution character.

Examples of MOVE ENCODED:

MOVE ENCODED A-FIELD1 TO A-FIELD2

Invalid: This results in a syntax error, since the code page names are taken by default and are the same for operand1 and operand3. 

MOVE ENCODED A-FIELD1 CODEPAGE 'IBM01140' TO A-FIELD2 CODEPAGE 'IBM01140'

Invalid: This results in an error, since the coded code page names are the same for operand1 and operand3. 

MOVE ENCODED A-FIELD1 CODEPAGE 'IBM01140' TO A-FIELD2 CODEPAGE 'IBM037'

Valid: The string in A-FIELD1 which is coded in IBM01140 is converted into A-FIELD2 which is coded in IBM037. 

MOVE ENCODED U-FIELD TO U-FIELD

Invalid: This results in an error, since at least one operand must be of format A or B. 

MOVE ENCODED U-FIELD TO A-FIELD

Valid: The Unicode string in U-FIELD which, considered to be encoded in UTF-16, is converted into the alphanumeric A-FIELD in the default code page (*CODEPAGE). 

MOVE ENCODED A-FIELD TO U-FIELD

Valid: The string in A-FIELD which, considered to be encoded in the default code page (*CODEPAGE), is converted into the Unicode field U-FIELD. 

MOVE ENCODED A100-FIELD CODEPAGE 'IBM1140' TO A50-FIELD CODEPAGE 'IBM037'

Valid: Conversion is done from A100-FIELD (format/length: A100) to A50-FIELD (format/length: A50), using the relevant code pages. The target is truncated. No Natural error message is returned. 

MOVE ENCODED A100-FIELD CODEPAGE 'IBM1140' TO A50-FIELD
CODEPAGE 'IBM037' GIVING RC-FIELD

Valid: Conversion is done from A100-FIELD (format/length: A100) to A50-FIELD (format/length: A50), using the relevant code pages. The target is truncated. Since a GIVING clause is supplied, the RC-FIELD receives an error code, indicating that a value truncation has taken place.

Syntax 9 - MOVE ALL

The MOVE ALL statement is used to move repeatedly the value of operand1 to operand2 until operand3 is full.

Syntax Diagram:

MOVE ALL   operand1   TO   operand2   [UNTIL operand3]

Operand Definition Table:

Operand Possible Structure Possible Formats Referencing Permitted Dynamic Definition
operand1 C S       A U N       B             yes no
operand2   S A     A U         B             yes yes
operand3 C S           N P I                 yes no

Syntax Element Description:

Syntax Element Description
operand1
Source Operand:

The source operand contains the value to be moved.

All digits of a numeric operand including leading zeros are moved

TO operand2
Target Operand:

The target operand is not reset prior to the execution of the MOVE ALL operation. This is of particular importance when using the UNTIL option since data previously in operand2 is retained if not explicitly overlaid during the MOVE ALL operation.

UNTIL operand3
UNTIL Option:

The UNTIL option is used to limit the MOVE ALL operation to a given number of positions in operand2. operand3 is used to specify the number of positions. The MOVE ALL operation is terminated when this value is reached.

If operand3 is greater than the length of operand2, the MOVE ALL operation is terminated when operand2 is full.

The UNTIL option may also be used to assign an initial value to a dynamic variable: if operand2 is a dynamic variable, its length after the MOVE ALL operation will correspond to the value of operand3. The current length of a dynamic variable can be ascertained by using the system variable *LENGTH. For general information on dynamic variables, see Usage of Dynamic Variables.

Examples

Example 1 - Various Samples of MOVE Statement Usage

** Example 'MOVEX1': MOVE                                               
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL                                                       
1 #A (N3)                                                               
1 #B (A5)                                                               
1 #C (A2)                                                               
1 #D (A7)                                                               
1 #E (N1.0)                                                             
1 #F (A5)                                                               
1 #G (N3.2)                                                             
1 #H (A6)                                                               
END-DEFINE                                                              
*                                                                       
MOVE 5 TO #A                                                            
WRITE NOTITLE 'MOVE 5 TO #A'      30X '=' #A                            
*                                                                       
MOVE 'ABCDE' TO #B #C #D                                                
WRITE 'MOVE ABCDE TO #B #C #D'    20X '=' #B '=' #C '=' #D              
*                                                                       
MOVE -1  TO #E                                             
WRITE 'MOVE -1  TO #E'            28X '=' #E               
*                                                          
MOVE ROUNDED 1.995 TO #E                                   
WRITE 'MOVE ROUNDED 1.995 TO #E'  18X '=' #E               
*                                                          
*                                                          
MOVE RIGHT JUSTIFIED 'ABC' TO #F                           
WRITE 'MOVE RIGHT JUSTIFIED ''ABC'' TO #F'       10X '=' #F
*                                                          
MOVE EDITED '003.45' TO #G (EM=999.99)                     
WRITE 'MOVE EDITED ''003.45'' TO #G (EM=999.99)'  4X '=' #G
*                                                          
MOVE EDITED 123.45 (EM=999.99) TO #H                      
WRITE 'MOVE EDITED 123.45 (EM=999.99) TO #H'      6X '=' #H
*                                                          
END

Output of Program MOVEX1:

MOVE 5 TO #A                              #A:    5                  
MOVE ABCDE TO #B #C #D                    #B: ABCDE #C: AB #D: ABCDE
MOVE -1  TO #E                            #E: -1                    
MOVE ROUNDED 1.995 TO #E                  #E:  2                    
MOVE RIGHT JUSTIFIED 'ABC' TO #F          #F:   ABC                 
MOVE EDITED '003.45' TO #G (EM=999.99)    #G:    3.45               
MOVE EDITED 123.45 (EM=999.99) TO #H      #H: 123.45

Example 2 - MOVE BY NAME

** Example 'MOVEX2': MOVE BY NAME                                       
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL                                                       
1 #SBLOCK                                                               
  2 #FIELDA (A10) INIT <'AAAAAAAAAA'>                                   
  2 #FIELDB (A10) INIT <'BBBBBBBBBB'>                                   
  2 #FIELDC (A10) INIT <'CCCCCCCCCC'>                                   
  2 #FIELDD (A10) INIT <'DDDDDDDDDD'>                                   
1 #TBLOCK                                                               
  2 #FIELD1 (A15) INIT <' '>                                            
  2 #FIELDA (A10) INIT <' '>                                            
  2 #FIELD2 (A10) INIT <' '>                                            
  2 #FIELDB (A10) INIT <' '>                                            
  2 #FIELD3 (A20) INIT <' '>                                            
  2 #FIELDC (A10) INIT <' '>                                            
END-DEFINE                                                              
*                                                                       
MOVE BY NAME #SBLOCK TO #TBLOCK                                      
*                                                                       
WRITE NOTITLE 'CONTENTS OF #TBLOCK AFTER MOVE BY NAME:'
       // '=' #TBLOCK.#FIELD1                          
        / '=' #TBLOCK.#FIELDA                          
        / '=' #TBLOCK.#FIELD2                          
        / '=' #TBLOCK.#FIELDB                          
        / '=' #TBLOCK.#FIELD3                          
        / '=' #TBLOCK.#FIELDC                          
*                                                      
END

Contents of #TBLOCK after MOVE BY NAME Processing: 

CONTENTS OF #TBLOCK AFTER MOVE BY NAME:
                                       
#FIELD1:                               
#FIELDA: AAAAAAAAAA                    
#FIELD2:                               
#FIELDB: BBBBBBBBBB                    
#FIELD3:                               
#FIELDC: CCCCCCCCCC

Example 3 - MOVE BY NAME with Arrays

DEFINE DATA LOCAL
  1 #GROUP1
    2 #FIELD (A10/1:10)
  1 #GROUP2
    2 #FIELD (A10/1:10)
END-DEFINE
... 
MOVE BY NAME #GROUP1 TO #GROUP2
...

In this example, the MOVE statement would internally be resolved as: 

MOVE #GROUP1.#FIELD (*) TO #GROUP2.#FIELD (*)

If part of an indexed group is moved to another part of the same group, this may lead to unexpected results as shown in the example below. 

DEFINE DATA LOCAL
  1 #GROUP1 (1:5)
    2 #FIELDA (N1) INIT <1,2,3,4,5>
    2 REDEFINE #FIELDA
      3 #FIELDB (N1)
END-DEFINE
...
MOVE BY NAME #GROUP1 (2:4) TO #GROUP1 (1:3)
...

In this example, the MOVE statement would internally be resolved as: 

MOVE #FIELDA (2:4) TO #FIELDA (1:3)
MOVE #FIELDB (2:4) TO #FIELDB (1:3)

First, the contents of the occurrences 2 to 4 of #FIELDA are moved to the occurrences 1 to 3 of #FIELDA; that is, the occurrences receive the following values:

Occurrence: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Value before: 1 2 3 4 5
Value after: 2 3 4 4 5

Then the contents of the occurrences 2 to 4 of #FIELDB are moved to the occurrences 1 to 3 of #FIELDB; that is, the occurrences receive the following values:

Occurrence: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Value before: 2 3 4 4 5
Value after: 3 4 4 4 5

Example 4 - MOVE BY POSITION

DEFINE DATA LOCAL
  1 #GROUP1
    2 #FIELD1A (N5)
    2 #FIELD1B (A3/1:3)
    2 REDEFINE #FIELD1B
      3 #FIELD1BR (A9)
  1 #GROUP2
    2 #FIELD2A (N5)
    2 #FIELD2B (A3/1:3)
    2 REDEFINE #FIELD2B
      3 #FIELD2BR (A9)
END-DEFINE
...
MOVE BY POSITION #GROUP1 TO #GROUP2   
...

In this example, the content of #FIELD1A is moved to #FIELD2A, and the content of #FIELD1B to #FIELD2B; the fields #FIELD1BR and #FIELD2BR are not affected.

Example 5 - MOVE ALL

** Example 'MOAEX1': MOVE ALL                                           
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL                                                       
1 EMPLOY-VIEW VIEW OF EMPLOYEES                                         
  2 PERSONNEL-ID                                                        
  2 FIRST-NAME                                                          
  2 NAME                                                                
  2 CITY                                                                
1 VEH-VIEW VIEW OF VEHICLES                                             
  2 PERSONNEL-ID                                                        
  2 MAKE                                                                
END-DEFINE                                                              
*                                                                       
LIMIT 4                                                                 
RD. READ EMPLOY-VIEW BY NAME                                            
  SUSPEND IDENTICAL SUPPRESS                                            
  /*                                                                    
  FD. FIND VEH-VIEW WITH PERSONNEL-ID = PERSONNEL-ID (RD.)              
    IF NO RECORDS FOUND                                                  
      MOVE ALL '*' TO FIRST-NAME (RD.)        
      MOVE ALL '*' TO CITY (RD.)              
      MOVE ALL '*' TO MAKE (FD.)              
    END-NOREC                                 
    /*                                        
    DISPLAY NOTITLE (ES=OFF IS=ON ZP=ON AL=15)
            NAME (RD.) FIRST-NAME (RD.)       
            CITY (RD.)                        
            MAKE (FD.) (IS=OFF)               
    /*                                        
  END-FIND                                    
END-READ                                      
END

Output of Program MOAEX1:

     NAME         FIRST-NAME         CITY            MAKE      
--------------- --------------- --------------- ---------------
                                                               
ABELLAN         *************** *************** ***************
ACHIESON        ROBERT          DERBY           FORD           
ADAM            *************** *************** ***************
ADKINSON        JEFF            BROOKLYN        GENERAL MOTORS