When the FORMAT phrase is used in the CREATE TABLE statement, as follows:
CREATE TABLE Test1 (Col1 DECIMAL(4) FORMAT '9999S');
then zoned input character strings can be loaded with standard INSERT statements, whether the data is defined:
INSERT INTO Test1 (Col1) VALUES ('123J');
or read from a client system data record via the USING modifier:
USING Ext1 (CHAR(4)) INSERT INTO Test1 (Col1) VALUES (:Ext1);
The data record contains the string ‘123J’.
Subsequently, a simple select, such as:
SELECT Col1 FROM Test1;
returns:
Col1 ---- 123J