Testing Operator input for special characters or wild cards

So my next question is if i have a user input comment like this "p123456; s00024058; v433356" and only want the s00024058 string, how do I filter out or ignore the p numbers, ; , & v numbers? I want only the s numbers collected and input into a tracefield or variable.

essentially this... Masking Barcode Characters (hexagonmi.com)

Once this data is input is the format always exactly the same?

P123456; s00024058; v433356

7 characters, 9 characters, 7 characters

If this is 100% repeatable in this format, something I threw together quickly without thought for more controlled filtering.

C1         =COMMENT/INPUT,NO,FULL SCREEN=NO,
            Scan Barcode
            ASSIGN/V1=RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 18),9)
            TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY=NO,REPORT=NO,DISPLAY MESSAGE=New Trace ; New Trace : V1

Once this data is input is the format always exactly the same?

P123456; s00024058; v433356

7 characters, 9 characters, 7 characters

If this is 100% repeatable in this format, something I threw together quickly without thought for more controlled filtering.

C1         =COMMENT/INPUT,NO,FULL SCREEN=NO,
            Scan Barcode
            ASSIGN/V1=RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 18),9)
            TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY=NO,REPORT=NO,DISPLAY MESSAGE=New Trace ; New Trace : V1

i found something in the help file "understanding basic file I/O concepts" --> "sample code dealing with numbers containing preceding zeros"

This is probably a dumb idea, but I created flow control for if the position of the letter "s" string begins is in any of the possible locations based on the 3 possible character positions providing your format does not change.

Feel free to share what you figured out so I can learn too.

$$ NO,
            s00024058; v433356; P123456 --> s is in Position 1
$$ NO,
            P123456; s00024058; v433356 --> s is Position 10
$$ NO,
            v433356; P123456; s00024058 --> s is in Position 19
C1         =COMMENT/INPUT,NO,FULL SCREEN=NO,
            Scan Barcode
            ASSIGN/V1=RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 18),9)
            IF/RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 1),1) == "s"
              ASSIGN/V1=RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 9),9)
              GOTO/NEXT
            END_IF/
            IF/RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 10), 1) == "s"
              ASSIGN/V1=RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 10),9)
              GOTO/NEXT
            END_IF/
            IF/RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 19),1) == "s"
              ASSIGN/V1=RIGHT(LEFT(C1.INPUT, 27),9)
              GOTO/NEXT
            END_IF/
NEXT       =LABEL/
            TRACEFIELD/DISPLAY=NO,REPORT=YES,DISPLAY MESSAGE=New Trace ; New Trace : V1

You could probably do it using the ELEMENT function - it works in a similar way to the InStr visual basic function.

Element:

Short and sweet. this works for now which i can control it depending on this configuration. thanks, ill look into the other examples also. thank you guys!