If the format is not attached to the column, the sign FORMAT phrase must be used each time signed zoned decimal data is loaded and each time the row value is to be retrieved in signed zoned decimal format.
For example, if a table is defined using a CREATE TABLE statement like this:
CREATE TABLE Test2 (Col2 DECIMAL(5));
then the sign FORMAT phrase must be included whenever signed zoned decimal strings are inserted.
This is true whether the definition is explicitly defined, as it is in Examples 1 and 2, or defined implicitly by being read from a client system data record as it is in Examples 3 and 4.