In textual regions, the move statement works very similarly to how it works for graphical objects, as described in Graphical Objects, Image Regions, and Sense Regions. You can move the cursor to any character position, whether or not any text exists at that position.

 

The move by statement moves the text cursor to a relative position, by the number of columns and lines specified. For example, if the text cursor is at column 9, line 20 and you specify:

 

move by 10 columns 5 lines

 

ESL moves the text cursor 10 columns to the right of and 5 lines down from its starting position, to column 19, line 25.

(Remember, the line numbers increase as you move downward in a textual region.)

 

If you specify negative positions, for example:

 

move by -7 columns 5 lines

 

the text cursor moves 7 columns to the left of and 5 lines down from its starting position. Be careful when specifying relative movements:  if they do not result in a positive coordinate (that is, column 1 line 1 or higher), the cursor will not move and an error message will be produced.

 

The move to statement moves the text cursor to a specified absolute position. For example, if you specify:

 

move to column 2 line 51

 

the text cursor moves to column 2, line 51, regardless of its starting position.

 

Absolute column and line numbers must be positive integers. An absolute negative or zero column or line specification will generate an error message, and the text cursor will not move.