Set Variable Format

Selecting the "More" button to the right of the Field Format field or Export Format field on the Variables tab of the data grid, allows you to change the Field Format or Export Format for that variable using the Set Variable Format dialog.

The Variable Type field determines the formats you can use.

If the Variable Type is String, the Field Format and Export Formats are automatically changed to Alphanumeric and are formatted as:

String

A non-numeric value not used in calculations. A String value can contain any characters up to the maximum defined length. Uppercase and lowercase letters are considered unique values.

If the Variable Type is Numeric, changing the Field Format, Field Width or Field Decimals automatically updates the Export Width, Export Decimals and Export Format. However, changing the Export Width, Decimals or Format does not automatically update the Field Width, Decimals and Format.

For most of the Numeric formats, you can change the Width and/or Decimal places on the Set Variable Format dialog.

The available formats for Numeric are as follows:

Numeric

Values are numbers and are displayed in standard numeric format. Numeric values in standard format or scientific notation are valid.

Comma

A numeric value displayed with commas delimiting every three places using the period as a decimal delimiter. Numeric values with or without commas or in scientific notation are valid.

Dot

A numeric value displayed with periods delimiting every three places using the comma as a decimal delimiter. Numeric values with or without periods or in scientific notation are valid.

Scientific notation

A numeric value displayed with an embedded E and a signed power-of-10 exponent. For example1.23E+2. Numeric values with or without an exponent are valid.

Date

A numeric value displayed in one of several calendar-date or clock-time formats. Select a format from the list. Dates can be entered with slashes, hyphens, periods, commas or blank spaces used as delimiters. The century for 2-digit year values is based on a 100-year cycle (70 years back and 30 years forward from the current date). For example, if the 2-digit year entered in 2014 (current year) is between 00 and 44, the century will be 20. If the 2-digit year entered in 2014 (current year) is between 45-99, the century will be 19.

Dollar

A numeric value displayed with a leading dollar sign ($), commas delimiting every three places, and using a period as a decimal delimiter. Data values can be entered with or without the leading dollar sign.

Restricted numeric

A numeric variable where values are limited to non-negative integers. For display purposes, values are padded with leading zeros up to the maximum width for the variable.

Cancel

Use Cancel to exit the Set Variable Format dialog without applying changes to the selected Variable.