Data format in the output data

Use this procedure if you need to specify or edit the output data format shown in the Transaction description dialog.

1. Select the transaction field.

2. Click the Properties button on the right side of the dialog.

3. In the Format box in the Properties dialog, change the format according to your requirements. The format is T(i).

   T can be A for alphabetic, N for numeric or X for alphanumeric.

   i is the length or interval.

   To specify a signed field

   Type S before the format to signify a signed field. The field will have a negative value if it contains a minus sign when interpreted or if a minus sign is typed during manual verification.
    

   To specify a decimal

   Use a period to signify a decimal. Examples:

   +" "N(5).NN	A numeric field with 5 digits followed by a decimal and 2 more digits, right-justified and with spaces as pad characters.
   -"&"SN(1-3).NN	A signed numeric field with 1 to 3 digits, followed by a decimal and 2 more digits, left-justified and with ampersands as pad characters.

   To specify that only a partial string is to be included in the transfer file

   The format for this is $(x,y), where x is the position of the first character to be included and y the number of characters to be included. If y is 0, then the all the characters in the string are transferred, starting from the position specified by x.

   Examples:

   +"*"N(7)$(2,4)	A numeric field with 7 digits where only digits 2-5 are to be transferred, right-justified and padded with asterisks.
   +"0"N(4).NN$(3,4)	A numeric field with 4 digits where only positions 3-6 are to be transferred, right-justified and padded with zeros. Note that the decimal is considered a character, so if the field value is 1234.56, the result is 34.5, not 34.56.
   -" "A(10)$(3,8)	A ten-character alphabetic field where only the third through tenth letters are to be transferred, left-justified and padded with spaces.

   Warning: If your change affect the size of a variable, do not forget to change its Length at the same time.

4. Click OK to save your changes. The format you typed is shown in the Format column of the Transaction description dialog.

Related topics

Specifying the format of the output data

Examples of output data formats