1. The first comparand is compared with an equal number of leftmost contiguous characters in the inspected item. The comparand matches the inspected characters only if both are equal, character-for-character.
   If the CHARACTERS phrase is specified, an implied 1-character comparand is used. The implied character is always considered to match the inspected character in the inspected item.

2. If no match occurs for the first comparand and there are more comparands, the comparison is repeated for each successive comparand until either a match is found or all comparands have been acted upon.

3. Depending on whether a match is found, these actions are taken:
   • If a match is found, tallying or replacing takes place, as described in the TALLYING and REPLACING phrase descriptions.
     If there are more characters in the inspected item, the first character following the rightmost matching character is now considered to be in the leftmost character position. The process described in actions 1 and 2 is then repeated.

   • If no match is found and there are more characters in the inspected item, the first character following the leftmost inspected character is now considered to be in the leftmost character position. The process described in actions 1 and 2 is then repeated.

4. Actions 1 through 3 are repeated until the rightmost character in the inspected item either has been matched or has been considered as being in the leftmost character position.

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