Developer Guide and Reference

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

OPEN: SIGN Specifier

The SIGN specifier controls the optional plus characters in formatted numeric output created during the connection. It takes the following form:

SIGN = sn

sn

Is a scalar default character expression that evaluates to one of the following values:

'PLUS'

Indicates that the processor should produce a plus sign in any subsequent position where it would be otherwise optional.

This has the same effect as the SP edit descriptor.

'SUPPRESS'

Indicates that the processor should suppress a plus sign in any subsequent position where it would be otherwise optional.

This has the same effect as the SS edit descriptor.

'PROCESSOR_DEFINED'

Indicates that the processor determines whether a plus sign is added in any subsequent position where it would be otherwise optional.

This has the same effect as the S edit descriptor.

The default is 'PROCESSOR_DEFINED'.

SIGN editing is an overridable mode. The setting can be temporarily overridden by a SIGN= specifier in the I/O control list of a WRITE statement, or by using an SS, SP, or S format edit descriptor in the format associated with the WRITE statement.

This specifier is not allowed on unformatted input or output.

See Also