Developer Guide and Reference

ID 767251
Date 10/31/2024
Public
Document Table of Contents

Forms for Control Edit Descriptors

A control edit descriptor takes one of the following forms:

c

cn

nc

c

Is one of the following format codes: BN, BZ, DC, DP, P, Q, RC, RD, RN, RP, RU, RZ, S, SP, SS, T, TL, TR, X, :, ;, $, /, or \.

n

Is a number of character positions. It must be a positive integer literal constant or a variable format expression. No kind parameter can be specified. It cannot be a named constant.

The range of n is 1 through 2147483647 (2**31-1). Actual useful ranges may be constrained by record sizes (RECL) and the file system.

Description

In general, control edit descriptors are nonrepeatable. The only exception is the slash (/) edit descriptor, which can be preceded by a repeat specification or a * indicating an unlimited repeat count.

The control edit descriptors have the following specific forms:

Positional:

Tn, TLn, TRn, and nX

Sign:

S, SP, and SS

Blank interpretation:

BN and BZ

Rounding mode:

RU, RD, RZ, RN, RC, and RP

Decimal mode:

DC and DP

Scale factor:

kP

Miscellaneous:

:, /, \, $, and Q

The P edit descriptor is an exception to the general control edit descriptor syntax. It is preceded by a scale factor, rather than a character position specifier.

Control edit descriptors can be grouped in parentheses and preceded by a group repeat specification.