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INFORMIX-ESQL/C Programmer's Manual
Working with Numeric Data Types

Formatting Numeric Strings

A numeric-formatting mask specifies a format to apply to some numeric value. This mask is a combination of the following formatting characters:

* This character fills with asterisks any positions in the display field that would otherwise be blank.
& This character fills with zeros any positions in the display field that would otherwise be blank.
# This character changes leading zeros to blanks. Use this character to specify the maximum leftward extent of a field.
< This character left-justifies the numbers in the display field. It changes leading zeros to a null string.
, This character indicates the symbol that separates groups of three digits (counting leftward from the units position) in the whole-number part of the value. By default, this symbol is a comma. You can set the symbol with the DBMONEY environment variable. In a formatted number, this symbol appears only if the whole-number part of the value has four or more digits.
. This character indicates the symbol that separates the whole-number part of a money value from the fractional part. By default, this symbol is a period. You can set the symbol with the DBMONEY environment variable. You can have only one period in a format string.
- This character is a literal. It appears as a minus sign when expr1 is less than zero. When you group several minus signs in a row, a single minus sign floats to the rightmost position that it can occupy; it does not interfere with the number and its currency symbol.
+ This character is a literal. It appears as a plus sign when expr1 is greater than or equal to zero and as a minus sign when expr1 is less than zero. When you group several plus signs in a row, a single plus or minus sign floats to the rightmost position that it can occupy; it does not interfere with the number and its currency symbol.
( This character is a literal. It appears as a left parenthesis to the left of a negative number. It is one of the pair of accounting parentheses that replace a minus sign for a negative number. When you group several in a row, a single left parenthesis floats to the rightmost position that it can occupy; it does not interfere with the number and its currency symbol.
) This is one of the pair of accounting parentheses that replace a minus sign for a negative value.
$ This character displays the currency symbol that appears at the front of the numeric value. By default, the currency symbol is the dollar sign ($). You can set the currency symbol with the DBMONEY environment variable. When you group several dollar signs in a row, a single currency symbol floats to the rightmost position that it can occupy; it does not interfere with the number.

Any other characters in the formatting mask are reproduced literally in the result.

When you use the following characters within a formatting mask, the characters float; that is, multiple occurrences of the character at the left of the pattern in the mask appear as a single character as far to the right as possible in the formatted number (without removing significant digits):

For example, if you apply the mask $$$,$$$.## to the number 1234.56, the result is $1,234.56.

When you use rfmtdec(), rfmtdouble(), or rfmtlong() to format MONEY values, the function uses the currency symbols that the DBMONEY environment variable specifies. If you do not set this environment variable, the numeric-formatting functions use the currency symbols that the client locale defines. The default local, U.S. English, defines currency symbols as if you set DBMONEY to "$,.". For a discussion of DBMONEY, see the Informix Guide to SQL: Reference. For more information on locales, see the Informix Guide to GLS Functionality.

Figure 5-4 on page 5-18 shows sample format strings for numeric expressions. The character b represents a blank or space.

Figure 5-4

Formatting Mask Numeric Value Formatted Result
"#####"
"&&&&&"
"$$$$$"
"*****"
"<<<<<" 		0
0
0
0
0 		bbbbb
00000
bbbb$
*****
(null string)
"##,###"
"##,###"
"##,###"
"##,###"
"##,###"
"##,###"
"##,###" 		12345
1234
123
12
1
-1
0 		12,345
b1,234
bbb123
bbbb12
bbbbb1
bbbbb1
bbbbbb
"&&,&&&"
"&&,&&&"
"&&,&&&"
"&&,&&&"
"&&,&&&"
"&&,&&&"
"&&,&&&" 		12345
1234
123
12
1
-1
0 		12,345
01,234
000123
000012
000001
000001
000000
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
"$$,$$$"
(DBMONEY set to DM) 		12345
1234
123
12
1
-1
0
1234 		***** (overflow)
$1,234
bb$123
bbb$12
bbbb$1
bbbb$1
bbbbb$
DM1,234
"**,***"
"**,***"
"**,***"
"**,***"
"**,***"
"**,***" 		12345
1234
123
12
1
0 		12,345
*1,234
***123
****12
*****1
******
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##"
"##,###.##" 		12345.67
1234.56
123.45
12.34
1.23
0.12
0.01
-0.01
-1 		12,345.67
b1,234.56
bbb123.45
bbbb12.34
bbbbb1.23
bbbbbb.12
bbbbbb.01
bbbbbb.01
bbbbb1.00
"&&,&&&.&&"
"&&,&&&.&&"
"&&,&&&.&&"
"&&,&&&.&&" 		.67
1234.56
123.45
0.01 		000000.67
01,234.56
000123.45
000000.01
"$$,$$$.$$"
"$$,$$$.$$"
"$$,$$$.##"
"$$,$$$.##"
"$$,$$$.&&"
"$$,$$$.&&" 		12345.67
1234.56
0.00
1234.00
0.00
1234.00 		********* (overflow)
$1,234.56
bbbbb$.00
$1,234.00
bbbbb$.00
$1,234.00
"-##,###.##"
"-##,###.##"
"-##,###.##"
"--#,###.##"
"---,###.##"
"---,-##.##"
"---,--#.##"
"--#,###.##"
"---,--#.##" 		-12345.67
-123.45
-12.34
-12.34
-12.34
-12.34
-12.34
-1.00
-1.00 		-12,345.67
-bbb123.45
-bbbb12.34
b-bbb12.34
bb-bb12.34
bbbb-12.34
bbbb-12.34
b-bbbb1.00
bbbbb-1.00
"-##,###.##"
"-##,###.##"
"-##,###.##"
"-##,###.##"
"--#,###.##"
"---,###.##"
"---,-##.##"
"---,---.##"
"---,---.--"
"---,---.&&" 		12345.67
1234.56
123.45
12.34
12.34
12.34
12.34
1.00
-.01
-.01 		b12,345.67
bb1,234.56
bbbb123.45
bbbbb12.34
bbbbb12.34
bbbbb12.34
bbbbb12.34
bbbbbb1.00
bbbbbb-.01
bbbbbb-.01
"-$$$,$$$.&&"
"-$$$,$$$.&&"
"-$$$,$$$.&&"
"--$$,$$$.&&"
"--$$,$$$.&&"
"--$$,$$$.&&"
"--$$,$$$.&&"
"--$$,$$$.&&" 		-12345.67
-1234.56
-123.45
-12345.67
-1234.56
-123.45
-12.34
-1.23 		-$12,345.67
-b$1,234.56
-bbb$123.45
-$12,345.67
b-$1,234.56
b-bb$123.45
b-bbb$12.34
b-bbbb$1.23
"----,--$.&&"
"----,--$.&&"
"----,--$.&&"
"----,--$.&&"
"----,--$.&&"
"----,--$.&&" 		-12345.67
-1234.56
-123.45
-12.34
-1.23
-.12 		-$12,345.67
b-$1,234.56
bbb-$123.45
bbbb-$12.34
bbbbb-$1.23
bbbbbb-$.12
"$***,***.&&"
"$***,***.&&"
"$***,***.&&"
"$***,***.&&"
"$***,***.&&"
"$***,***.&&" 		12345.67
1234.56
123.45
12.34
1.23
.12 		$*12,345.67
$**1,234.56
$****123.45
$*****12.34
$******1.23
$*******.12
"($$$,$$$.&&)"
"($$$,$$$.&&)"
"($$$,$$$.&&)" 		-12345.67
-1234.56
-123.45 		($12,345.67)
(b$1,234.56)
(bbb$123.45)
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)" 		-12345.67
-1234.56
-123.45
-12.34
-1.23
-12345.67
-1234.56
-123.45
-12.34
-1.23
-.12 		($12,345.67)
b($1,234.56)
b(bb$123.45)
b(bbb$12.34)
b(bbbb$1.23)
($12,345.67)
b($1,234.56)
bbb($123.45)
bbbb($12.34)
bbbbb($1.23)
bbbbbb($.12)
"($$$,$$$.&&)"
"($$$,$$$.&&)"
"($$$,$$$.&&)" 		12345.67
1234.56
123.45 		b$12,345.67
bb$1,234.56
bbbb$123.45
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)"
"(($$,$$$.&&)" 		12345.67
1234.56
123.45
12.34
1.23 		b$12,345.67
bb$1,234.56
bbbb$123.45
bbbbb$12.34
bbbbbb$1.23
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)"
"((((,(($.&&)" 		12345.67
1234.56
123.45
12.34
1.23
.12 		b$12,345.67
bb$1,234.56
bbbb$123.45
bbbbb$12.34
bbbbbb$1.23
bbbbbbb$.12
"<<<,<<<"
"<<<,<<<"
"<<<,<<<"
"<<<,<<<" 		12345
1234
123
12 		12,345
1,234
123
12
Sample Format Patterns and Their Results

Numeric-Formatting Functions

INFORMIX-ESQL/C provides special functions that allow you to format numeric expressions for display. These formatting functions apply a given formatting mask to a numeric value to allow you to line up decimal points, right- or left-justify the number, enclose a negative number in parentheses, and so on. The ESQL/C library includes the following functions that support formatting masks for numeric values.

Function Name Description Page Reference
rfmtdec() Converts a decimal value to a string B-306
rfmtdouble() Converts a double value to a string B-309
rfmtlong() Converts a 4-byte integer value to a string B-312

For information on the syntax and behavior of these library functions, refer to Appendix B, ESQL/C Function Library.

INFORMIX-ESQL/C Programmer's Manual, Version 9.21
Copyright © 1999, Informix Software, Inc. All rights reserved