STRING FORMAT

STRING expressions return text strings. They are used to manipulate non-numeric data. The STRING FORMAT expression returns the value from its sub-expression, converted to a floating-point number, and formatted as specified.

The sub-expression may be a PROPERTY, STRING or FLOAT expression. A PRECISION expression node sets the number of significant digits to include, and a SHOW_SIGN expression node sets whether or not to show the sign of the number.

See the EXPRESSION element for DTD and attribute information.

Example

This example takes a value 8.99, formats it with 3 significant digits, and returns 8.990.

<EXPRESSION TYPE="STRING" NAME="FORMAT">
   <EXPRNODE NAME="PRECISION" VALUE="3"/>
   <EXPRNODE NAME="SHOW_SIGN" VALUE="FALSE"/>
   <EXPRESSION TYPE="FLOAT" NAME="CONST">
      <EXPRNODE NAME="VALUE" VALUE="8.99"/>
   </EXPRESSION>
</EXPRESSION>