...
> CAROL ;     10 AM- 3 PM
...  
>  
> What we would like to do and the problem we are having is as 
> follows: We are trying to set a variable for the position for 
> the session name (for example positions 1-8 in the above file 
> example we'll call it sess).
> Then we want to set a variable for the end time (position 17 
> we'll call it hour). Then set an if statement that in a loop 
> that states 
>      if HPHOUR > than hour then abort sess.

Assuming you read each record into a variable named "file_record", 
the first field is easy to get:
   setvar sess word(file_record)

SESS will automatically have leading and trailing blanks removed.

To get the ending time, which will need to be converted to a 24 hour 
clock, you can:
   setvar ampm word(file_record,,-1)
   setvar hour decimal(word(file_record,,-2))
   if ampm = "PM" then
      setvar hour hour+12      
   endif

finally:
   if hphour > hour then ....


:help word displays the full syntax.

BTW, I did not test any of this but it is at least close.

HTH,
 Jeff Vance, vCSY

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *