A number display format can have up to four sections. Only the first is required. The three other sections determine how the data displays if its value is negative, zero, or NULL. The sections are separated by semi-colons:
Positive-format;negative-format;zero-format;null-format
Table 8-2 lists characters that have special meaning in number display formats.
Character |
Meaning |
|---|---|
# |
A number |
0 |
A required number; a number will display for every 0 in the mask |
Percent signs, decimal points, parentheses, and spaces display as entered in the mask.
Use at least one 0
In general, a number display format should include at least
one 0. If you enter 0 in a field with the mask ###,
the field will appear to be blank if you do not provide a zero-format
section. If the mask is ###.##,
only the period displays. If you want two decimal places to display
even if both are 0, use the mask ##0.00.
You can use the following keywords as number display formats when you want InfoMaker to determine an appropriate format to use:
[General]
[Currency]
Note that [Currency(7)] and [Currency(n)] are legal edit masks, but they are not legal display formats.
To ensure that an application behaves the same in every country where it is deployed, InfoMaker expressions and the masks used in display formats and edit masks require U.S. notation for numbers. That is, when you specify a number in a InfoMaker expression or in a number mask, a comma always represents the thousands delimiter and a period always represents the decimal place. You should also always use the $ sign to represent the symbol for currency.
At runtime, the locally correct symbols are displayed for numbers and currency. The comma and period are replaced by the delimiters defined in the user’s Number settings in the Regional or International Settings property sheet in the Windows Control Panel. The $ sign in the mask is replaced by the local currency symbol as defined in the user’s Currency setting in the Windows Control Panel. For example, in countries where a comma represents the decimal place and a period represents thousands, users see numbers in those formats.
Use caution when defining an edit mask for a percentage. When you enter a number in a column with a percent edit mask and tab off the column, InfoMaker divides the number by 100 and stores the result in the buffer. For example, if you enter 23, InfoMaker passes .23 to the buffer. When you retrieve from the database, InfoMaker multiplies the number by 100 and, if the mask is ##0%, displays 23%.
The datatype for the column must be numeric or decimal to handle the result of a division by 100. If the column has an integer datatype, a percentage entered as 333 is retrieved from the database as 300, and 33 is retrieved as 0.
If you use an edit mask with decimals, such as ##0.00%, the datatype must have enough decimal places to handle the division. For example, if you enter 33.33, the datatype for the column must have at least four decimal places because the result of the division is .3333. If the datatype has only three decimal places, the percentage is retrieved as 33.30.
Table 8-3 shows how the values 5, –5, and .5 display when different format masks are applied.
Format |
5 |
-5 |
.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
[General] |
5 |
-5 |
0.5 |
0 |
5 |
-5 |
1 |
0.00 |
5.00 |
-5.00 |
0.50 |
#,##0 |
5 |
-5 |
1 |
#,##0.00 |
5.00 |
-5.00 |
0.50 |
$#,##0;($#,##0) |
$5 |
($5) |
$1 |
$#,##0;-$#,##0 |
$5 |
-$5 |
$1 |
$#,##0;[RED]($#,##0) |
$5 |
($5) |
$1 |
[Currency] |
$5.00 |
($5.00) |
$0.50 |
$#,##0.00;($#,##0.00) |
$5.00 |
($5.00) |
$0.50 |
$#,##0.00;[RED]($#,##0.00) |
$5.00 |
($5.00) |
$0.50 |
##0% |
500% |
-500% |
50% |
##0.00% |
500.00% |
-500.00% |
50.00% |
0.00E+00 |
5.00E+00 |
-5.00E+00 |
5.00E-01 |
