Edit Masks

As you work with edit masks, keep in mind the following:

When using text, date, and numeric scientific edit masks with PRINT, the specified width value of PRINT sets the length allocated for the data displayed. For all other numeric edit masks, the edit mask sets the allocated length.
All masks can be used by the strtodate function except for CC, SCC, Q, W, and WW.
A backslash forces the next character into the output from the mask. For example, a mask of “The cu\rre\nt \mo\nth is Month” results in the output string of “The current month is January”. Without the backslashes the output string would be “The cu95e7t january is January”.
You can use a vertical bar as a delimiter between format codes; however, in most cases the bar is not necessary. For example, the mask 'YYYY|MM|DD' is the same as 'YYYYMMDD'.
Any other character (for example, punctuation) in a date edit mask is treated as a constant and is included in the edited field. If the edit mask contains spaces, you must enclose it in single quotes (').
The masks MON, MONTH, DAY, DY, AM, PM, BC, AD, and RM are case-sensitive and follow the case of the mask entered. For example, if the month is January, the mask Mon yields “Jan” and MON yields “JAN”. All other masks are case-insensitive and can be entered in either uppercase or lowercase.
National Language Support is provided for the following masks: MON, MONTH, DAY, DY, AM, PM, BC, and AD. See ALTER-LOCALE or in Production Reporting Samples for additional information.
If the value of the date field being edited is “Mar 14 1996 9:35”, the edit masks produce the results in Table 59.
Table 59. Sample Date Edit Masks
Edit Mask
Result
dd/mm/yy
14/03/96
DD-MON-YYYY
14-MAR-1996
'Month dd, YYYY'
March 14, 1996
MONTH-YYYY
MARCH-1996
HH:MI
09:35
'HH:MI PM'
09:35 AM
YYYYMMDD
19960314
MM.DD.YYYY
03.14.1996
Mon
Mar
DD|D|DDD
143073
In addition to the EDIT argument, you can use edit masks with MOVE, CONCAT, DISPLAY, and SHOW, and with the edit function of LET. Edit the field using the supplied mask before storing or displaying it.
When a date with missing date and/or time components displays or prints, the defaults are as follows:
- The default year is the current year.
- The default month is the current month.
- The default day is one.
- The default time is zero (00:00:00.000000).
  For example, assuming today is September 7, 1996, the following assignment would produce an equivalent date-time of September 1, 1996 13:21:00.000000:

Edit Mask	Result
dd/mm/yy	14/03/96
DD-MON-YYYY	14-MAR-1996
'Month dd, YYYY'	March 14, 1996
MONTH-YYYY	MARCH-1996
HH:MI	09:35
'HH:MI PM'	09:35 AM
YYYYMMDD	19960314
MM.DD.YYYY	03.14.1996
Mon	Mar
DD\|D\|DDD	143073

let $date1 = strtodate('13:21','HH:MI')

You can dynamically change edit masks by storing them in a string variable and referencing the variable name preceded by a colon (:).
For example:

move  '$999,999.99'  to  $mask
print  #total  (5,10)  edit  :$mask
show  #total  edit  :$mask

When a date stored in a string literal, column, or variable prints with an edit mask, it must be in one of the following formats:
- The format specified by SQR_DB_DATE_FORMAT, or the corresponding setting in SQR.INI.
- One of the database-dependent formats in Table 61, Default Formats by Database.
- The database-independent format, 'SYYYYMMDD[HH24[MI[SS[NNNNNN]]]]'.
When a date column or variable prints without an edit mask, the date prints in the format specified by SQR_DB_DATE_FORMAT or the corresponding setting in SQR.INI. If this is not set, the date prints in the primary database format (the first entry) in Table 61.
This applies to DISPLAY, MOVE, and SHOW as well as PRINT.