1. A method for copying a variable-length character string ending in a specific character from a source address to a target address, said method comprising the steps of: loading a portion of the character string using the source address; storing a portion of the character string in a first register; specifying a starting location referring to a location within the first register; receiving at the processor an instruction; and executing said instruction, performing the following steps during execution of said instruction: concurrently comparing to the specific character the characters which are stored in the first register at a location equal to or subsequent to the starting location if the specific character is found, then saving in a register an address indicating a location of the specific character; and if the specific character is not found, then saving in a second register an address for referencing a character in the character string immediately following the examined portion of the character string, if the specific character was found, then storing at the target address the bytes of the portion of the character string between the source address and the address of the termination character, inclusive; and if the specific character was not found, then storing at the target address the portion of the character string from the beginning of the byte specified by the source address until the end of the portion of the character string, incrementing the source address by the length of the portion of the character string, incrementing the target address by the length of the portion of the character string and setting the least significant bits of the source address to zero.