Fabio,
If I understand this thread correctly, the argument is over whether right to left searching and replacing in CHRTRAN() is faster than left to right searching and replacing. If this is correct, then read on.
The answer is simple: Neither one is inherently faster than the other. I can come up with test case scenarios intentionally designed to prove either case. The only true measure would be a random generation of characters that both methods would test against.
George
Ubi caritas et amor, deus ibi est