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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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{| width="70%" border="2" align="center" |
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|- |
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! Character |
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! Description |
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|- |
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|align="center"| A |
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|Alphabetic character (A-Z, a-z, blank) |
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|- |
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|align="center"| B |
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|Blank (space) character |
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|- |
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|align="center"| X |
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|Any character, alphabetic, numeric, or other symbols |
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|- |
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|align="center"| 9 |
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|Numeric digit (0-9) |
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|- |
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|align="center"| Z |
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|Numeric digit, but leading-zero-suppressed (replaced by a blank when equal to zero) |
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|- |
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|align="center"| S |
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|Implied sign for a number |
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|- |
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|align="center"| V |
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|Implied decimal point |
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|- |
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|align="center"| , |
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|Digit group separator<ref name="comma">The comma and decimal point can be switched for European use.</ref> |
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|- |
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|align="center"| . |
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|Decimal point<ref name="comma"/> |
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|- |
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|align="center"| + |
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|Sign ('-' if negative, '+' if positive) |
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|- |
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|align="center"| - |
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|Sign ('-' if negative, blank if positive) |
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|} |
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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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|- |
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||PICTURE IS 999 ||3-digit number || 123, 005, 087, any number from 000 through 999 |
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|- |
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||PICTURE IS S999 ||3-digit internally signed number || +123, -005, +087, any number from -999 through +999 |
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|- |
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||PICTURE IS +999 ||3-digit output signed number || +123, -005, +087, any number from -999 through +999, with sign displayed. |
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|- |
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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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|- |
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||PICTURE IS A(8) ||8-character alphabetic string || "Fredrick", "Fred ", any string of 8 alphabetic letters (may include spaces) |
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|- |
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||PICTURE IS X(8) ||8-character string || "Smithson", "O'Riley ", "Bon-Jovi", "23Skidoo", any string of 8 characters (may include spaces) |
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|- |
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|} |
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== Footnotes == |
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<references/> |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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