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#REDIRECT ] |
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A picture clause is an element in ] that is used to describe a ] item, by using sample characters that indicate the item characteristics and size. |
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{{Redirect category shell|1= |
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== History == |
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{{R from merge}} |
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The picture clause was first used in the ] (Commercial Translator) language developed by ] of ] in 1957. In 1959, it was incorporated into the original definition of ]. Since then, many other programming languages have copied this feature. |
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{{R to section}} |
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}} |
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] |
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== Structure == |
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A picture clause is made up of various characters, each of which represents a certain type of data item. The number of repeated characters indicates the size of the data item. |
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Here are some examples (from COBOL) of picture characters and what they represent: |
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*A -- an alphabetic character (A-Z or a-z, plus blank) |
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*B -- the blank character |
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*X -- any character, alphabetic, numeric, or other symbols |
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*9 -- a numeric digit |
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*Z -- a numeric digit, but zero-suppressed (replaced by a blank when equal to zero) |
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*S -- a sign for a number |
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*, -- the comma, used as a separator in displaying numbers<ref name="comma">The comma and decimal point can be switched for European use.</ref> |
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*. -- the period, used as a decimal point in displaying numbers<ref name="comma"/> |
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*+ -- the plus sign, used in displaying signed numbers |
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*- -- the minus sign, used in displaying signed numbers |
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Some picture characters are used in input data and data storage fields, some only in output fields, and some in both. For example, ''S'' is used for a signed number on input and storage fields, but output fields will display a ''+'' or ''-'' sign. |
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== Examples<ref>These examples are from COBOL.</ref> == |
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{| border="1" |
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|- bgcolor="honeydew" |
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! picture clause!! data type!! sample contents |
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||PICTURE IS 999 ||3-digit number || 123, 005, 087, any number from 000 through 999 |
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||PICTURE IS S999 ||3-digit signed number || +123, -005, +087, any number from -999 through +999 |
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||PICTURE IS ZZ9 ||3-digit number, leading zeros suppressed || 123, 5, 87, any number from 000 through 999 |
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||PICTURE IS A(8) ||up to 8-character alphabetic string || "Fredrick", "Fred ", any string up to 8 letters |
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||PICTURE IS X(8) ||up to 8-character string || "Smithson", "O'Riley ", "Von-Jovi", any string up to 8 characters |
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== Footnotes == |
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<references/> |
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{{Uncategorized|date=June 2007}} |
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