A FORMAT phrase, by itself, cannot convert a character type value to a numeric type value. The phrase controls partially how the resultant value is parsed.
Some examples of character to numeric conversion appear in the following table. For FORMAT phrases that contain G, D, C, and N formatting characters, assume that the related entries in the specification for data formatting file (SDF) are:
RadixSeparator {"."}
GroupSeparator {","}
GroupingRule {"3"}
Currency {"$"}
ISOCurrency {"USD"}
CurrencyName {"US Dollars"}
| Character String | Converted To | Resultant Numeric Value | Field Mode Display Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| '$20,000.00' | DECIMAL(10,2) | 20000.00 | 20000.00 |
| '$$$.50' | DECIMAL(10,2) | error Only one currency is allowed in the character string. |
error |
| '$.50' | DECIMAL(8,2) | .50 | .50 |
| '.345' | DECIMAL(8,3) | .345 | .345 |
| '-1.234E-02' | FLOAT | -.01234 | -.01234 |
| '-1E.-2' | FLOAT | error The radix must precede the exponent part of the number. |
error |
| '00000000-.93' | DECIMAL(12,4) | error Embedded dashes cannot appear in a string containing a radix. |
error |
| '- 55' | INTEGER | -55 | -55 |
| 'E67' | FLOAT | 0.0 | 0.00000000000000E 000 |
| '9876' | DECIMAL(4,2) FORMAT '99V99' |
98.76 | 9876 |
| '-123' | INTEGER | -123 | -123 |
| '9876' | DECIMAL(4,2) FORMAT '9(2)V9(2)' |
98.76 | 9876 |
| '1-2-3' | INTEGER | 123 | 123 |
| '123-' | INTEGER | -123 | -123 |
| '123- ' | INTEGER | -123 | -123 |
| '-1.234E 02' | FLOAT | -123.4 | -1.23400000000000E 002 |
| '111,222,333' | INTEGER FORMAT 'G9(I)' |
111222333 | 0,111,222,333 |
| '2.49US Dollars' | DECIMAL(10,2) FORMAT 'GZ(I)D9(F)BN' |
2.49 | 2.49 US Dollars |
| '25000USD' | INTEGER FORMAT '9(I)C' |
25000 | 0000025000USD |
A conversion that does not specify a FORMAT phrase uses the corresponding data type default format as defined in the SDF.