Use the following characters in the FORMAT phrase to control formatting.
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
| X X(n) |
The letter X formats the display of character data. Each X represents one character. The data is returned in left-to-right order. For example, if a column is defined as FORMAT 'X', only the first (leftmost) character of each field value is displayed. Multiple character positions can be defined either by using the (n) notation, where n defines the length of the string, or by entering the equivalent number of X characters. |
Character strings are padded or truncated on the right when they are shorter or longer than the positions defined in the FORMAT phrase.