Variables have a syntax that can force a format on their values. Typical uses are as follows:
You embed formatting options in variable syntax as follows:
%[[?][-][width][.[-]precision][c][H][F][U|L][T][M][q][Q]:]<varname>%
The variable formatting options are the following:
|
option |
Description |
|---|---|
|
? |
Mandatory field, if a null value is returned the translate call fails |
|
n (where n is an integer) |
Blanks or zeros added to the right to fill the width and justify the output to the left |
|
-n |
Blanks or zeros added to the left to fill the width and justify the output to the right |
|
width |
Copies the specified minimum number of characters to the output buffer |
|
.[-]precision |
Copies the specified maximum number of characters to the output buffer |
|
.L |
Lower-case characters |
|
.U |
Upper-case characters |
|
.F |
Combined with L and U, applies conversion to first character |
|
.T |
Leading and trailing white space trimmed from the variable |
|
.H |
Converts number to hexadecimal |
|
.c |
Upper-case first letter and lower-case next letters |
|
.n |
Truncates to n first characters |
|
.-n |
Truncates to n last characters |
|
M |
Extracts a portion of the variable name, this option uses the width and precision parameters to identify the portion to extract |
|
q |
Enquotes the variable (single quotes) |
|
Q |
Enquotes the variable (double quotes) |
You can combine format codes. For example, %.U8:CHILD% formats the code of the child table with a maximum of eight uppercase letters.
The following examples show format codes embedded in the variable syntax for the constraint name template for primary keys, using a table called CUSTOMER_PRIORITY:
|
Format |
Use |
|---|---|
|
.L |
Lower-case characters. Example: PK_%.L:TABLE% Result: PK_customer_priority |
|
.Un |
Upper-case characters + left justify variable text to fixed length where n is the number of characters. Example: PK_%.U12:TABLE% Result: PK_CUSTOMER_PRI |
|
.T |
Trim the leading and trailing white space from the variable. Example: PK_%.T:TABLE% Result: PK_customer_priority |
|
.n |
Maximum length where n is the number of characters. Example: PK_%.8:TABLE% Result: PK_Customer |
|
-n |
Pad the output with blanks to the right to display a fixed length where n is the number of characters. Example: PK_%-20:TABLE% Result: PK_ Customer_priority |
|
M |
Extract a portion of a variable. Example: PK%3.4M:TABLE% Result: PK_CUST |