MASK

Overwrites the text in each output row with the specified characters at the specified position.

All non-blank characters in the text overwrite appear in the output line.

To create a mask of a blank character that overwrites output, enter ~ (the tilde character), rather than a blank space. The ~ is output as a blank space mask.

In addition to constant text, this command can use keywords to insert special strings into the report. These keywords begin with a "*" and must be entered. These are identical to the * keywords under the TEXT command, and are listed here for convenience. For a more complete discussion of * keywords, see the TEXT command.

You may include multiple sets of positions and text in a single MASK command.

Table 4-3 MASK Keywords

Keyword	Description
*APPNAME	Name of the application as set in the application definition.
*ARBOR	Version information from the Essbase Server.
*COLHDRnumber1 number2	Column heading members from the report, usually used with SUPCOLHEADING.
*COLHDRFULL	Full column heading, along with underlines of the column headings and a 1-line skip.
*CURRENCY	Currency conversion label that indicates to which currency the data values have been converted at report time with the CURRENCY command.
*DATE	Date the report was generated.
*DATETIME	Date and time the report was generated.
*DBNAME	Name of the data base within the application.
*EDATE	Date in European (dd/mm/yy) format.
*EDATETIME	European format date (dd/mm/yy) and time.
*MACHINE	Network name for the computer that is running the Essbase Server.
*PAGEHDRnumber	Page member heading for the report, usually used with SUPPAGEHEADING.
*PAGENO	Page number for the current page.
*PAGESTRING	Page number preceded by the text "Page:"
*TIME	Time the report was generated.
*TIMEDATE	Time and date the report was generated.
*TIMEEDATE	Time and European format (dd/mm/yy) date.
*USERNAME	Name of the user generating the report.

Syntax

{ MASK charPosition "replacement" [ charPosition "replacement" ] }

Parameters

charPosition: Character position at which to start replacing text.
"replacement": New text, enclosed by quotation marks, with which to overwrite the original output.

Notes

MASK is a setting command.
To replace a space, use a ~ (the tilde character).
If you want to produce an output file in comma-delimited format, use the SUPCOMMAS command, as in the example, to suppress the commas in numeric values. You can also use the SUPPAGEHEADING command to suppress page headings in the comma-delimited file.

Example

The following example is based on Sample Basic.


<ROW (Year, Measures, Product, Market, Scenario)
{SUPPAGEHEADING}
{ROWREPEAT}
{DECIMAL 2}
{SUPCOMMAS}
{MASK 3 "," 22 "," 40 "," 55 "," 74 ","}
<CHILDREN Qtr1
Sales
<CHILDREN Colas
East
Budget
     !

This example produces the following report:


Jan,        Sales,       100-10,      East,       Budget,        1690.00 
Jan,        Sales,       100-20,      East,       Budget,         190.00 
Jan,        Sales,       100-30,      East,       Budget,          80.00 
Feb,        Sales,       100-10,      East,       Budget,        1640.00 
Feb,        Sales,       100-20,      East,       Budget,         190.00 
Feb,        Sales,       100-30,      East,       Budget,          90.00 
Mar,        Sales,       100-10,      East,       Budget,        1690.00 
Mar,        Sales,       100-20,      East,       Budget,         200.00 
Mar,        Sales,       100-30,      East,       Budget,         100.00