The following table describes the special characters that can be used when defining numeric pictures. Some numeric masks are illustrated in Numeric Picture Examples.
| Picture | Result |
|---|---|
| + | Indicates position of the minus or plus sign. Sign is placed as close to significant digits as possible. If z, 9, or $ appear after +, the sign will never be closer to the decimal place than the last + sign. |
| - | Same as + except signs are not displayed. |
| 9 | Indicates a digit. Leading zeroes are displayed. |
| z | Indicates a digit. Leading zeros are replaced with blanks to allow alignment of decimal points and money symbols. (Lower case z only.) |
| . | Indicates the position of the decimal point. To use a different symbol for the decimal point (a comma, for example), use the period in the picture, but redefine the decimal point character by adding the .= decimal clause (for example: .=','). |
| , | Comma indicates relative position of grouping character. Grouping length is counted from the right, beginning with the first nonfractional digit. Only the grouping character closest to the decimal point is required. To use a different symbol for the grouping character (for example `.'), use the comma in the picture, but redefine the grouping character by adding the ,=grouping clause (for example: ,='.'). |
| $ | Indicates the position of the money symbol. When several dollar signs appear together ($$,$$$.99 for example) the dollar sign will be shown next to the left-most digit (or decimal point) displayed. Using the example picture, the variable value 12.34 will therefore be displayed as $12.34. To use a different money symbol (>= for example), Use the dollar sign in the picture, but then redefine the money symbol by adding the $=money clause to the PICTURE command ($='>=' for example). |
| r | Indicates the number is to be rounded. If used, must appear at very end of the mask (zz,zz9.99+r for example). |