Format Property

Sets the formats of the source expression for various data types.

Applies To

All data types in C/AL

Remarks

You can set the Format property to a predefined format, or you can build your own format. For more information, see FORMAT Function (Code, Text).

Basic Settings

To choose a predefined format, use the syntax: <Standard Format,X>, where X is one of the entries in the Value column of the following table.

Building Formats

You can use the Format property to create your own formats. To create a format, use the following rules:

• A format property consists of zero or more Chars, Fields, or Attributes.

• Fields and Attributes are expressed by using an identifier enclosed in brackets (<>).

• Attributes must contain a comma (,) and a parameter after the identifier.

• Fields can optionally take a comma (,) and a FieldLen.

The following table shows the syntax.

The 1000Character attribute specifies the character that separates the thousandths place digit from the hundredths place digit, the millionth place digit from the hundred thousandths place digit, and so on. The 1000Character attribute must be after the Integer or Integer Thousand field name and before the Decimals field name.

The Comma attribute specifies the character that separates the integer from the decimals. The Comma attribute must be after the Decimals field name.

Filler Character indicates the character that is used to fill empty spaces.

The FieldName is a component that you can use to build a format expression. Depending on the data type in the field, you can choose the appropriate FieldName from this list.

Data type	FieldName values
Decimal	Sign, Integer, Decimals, Integer Thousand
Date	Day, Month, Month Text, Quarter, Year, Year4, Week, Week Year, Week Year4, Weekday, Weekday Text, Closing
Time	Hours24, Hours12, Minutes, Seconds, Thousands, AM/PM, Second dec
DateTime	Day, Month, Month Text, Quarter, Year, Year4, Week, Week Year, Week Year4, Weekday, Weekday Text, Hours24, Hours12, Minutes, Seconds, Thousands, AM/PM, Second dec Note "Second dec" specifies a fraction of a second, in decimal format.
Integer, BigInteger	Sign, Integer, Integer Thousand
Boolean	Text, Number
Option	Text, Number
Code	Text
Char	Char/Number, Char, Number
Text	Text

Example

The following examples demonstrate how to use the Format property:

• Choosing a standard format.

  Use the Standard Format attribute to select one of the standard formats (these are listed at the end of this Help topic).

  For example, <Standard Format,5> selects Standard Format 5.

• Using a standard format with an attribute.

  <Precision,2:3><Standard Format,0> will use Standard Format 0 and will format the data with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 decimal places. For more information, see DecimalPlaces Property. If you do not specify a precision, then the page uses the precision that is specified in the DecimalPlaces Property of the corresponding field in the table.

• Building a format.

  You can create your own formats using Chars (which are displayed literally), Fields (to choose specific components of a value, for example the year-part of a date) and Attributes (for example to select which character to use as a filler).

  For example, a field that is based on a source expression of the Date data type can use the following format string:

  <Weekday Text>, <Month Text> <Day>

  This expression displays the date as Monday, April 15.

  Note

  The settings that are specified under the Regional and Language Options in Windows determine how some separators are displayed.

Standard Formats

The following tables list the predefined formats for each data type. This table shows the standard Decimal formats with the regional setting of a European country/region.

The following table shows the standard Decimal formats with the regional setting of English (US).

The following table shows the standard Date formats with the regional setting of a European country/region.

The following table shows the standard Date formats with the regional setting of English (US).

The following table shows the standard Time formats with the regional setting of a European country/region.

The following table shows the standard Time formats with the regional setting of English (US).

The following table shows the standard DateTime formats with the regional setting of a European country/region.

Europe DateTime	Format	Example
<Day,2>-<Month,2>-<Year> <Hours24>.<Minutes,2>	0	05-04-03 04:35
<Day,2>-<Month,2>-<Year> <Hours24>.<Minutes,2>.<Seconds,2><Second dec>	1	05-04-03 04:35:55,553
<Day,2>-<Month,2>-<Year> <Hours24>.<Minutes,2>	2	05-04-03 04:35
<Day,2>-<Month,2>-<Year> <Hours24>.<Minutes,2>.<Seconds,2>	3	05-04-03 04:35:55
XML format Warning A DateTime is stored in the database as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For example, on a computer in the (UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris time zone, UTC is one hour earlier than local time on the computer and probably two hours earlier during summer time.	9	2003-04-05T03:35:55.553Z

The following table shows the standard DateTime formats with the regional setting of English (US).

US DateTime	Format	Example
<Month,2>/<Day,2>/<Year> <Hours12,2>:<Minutes,2> <AM/PM>	0	04/05/03 04:35 AM
<Month,2>/<Day,2>/<Year> <Hours12,2>:<Minutes,2>:<Seconds,2><Second dec> <AM/PM>	1	04/05/03 04:35:55.553 AM
<Month,2>/<Day,2>/<Year> <Hours12,2>:<Minutes,2> <AM/PM>	2	04/05/03 04:35 AM
<Month,2>/<Day,2>/<Year> <Hours12,2>:<Minutes,2>:<Seconds,2> <AM/PM>	3	04/05/03 04:35:55 AM
XML format Warning A DateTime is stored in the database as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For example, on a computer in the (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time zone, UTC is eight hours later than local time on the computer.	9	2003-04-05T12:35:55.553Z

Standard format 9 is used to display the data in the standard XML formats.

For Chars, all formats should resemble the following: <Char/Number>.

For Text and Code, all formats should resemble the following: <Text>.

See Also

Reference

DecimalPlaces Property