This document discusses the use of those Natural profile and/or session parameters which you can use to control the output format of fields.
The following topics are covered:
See also Output Reports and Work Files (in the Parameter Reference documentation) for an overview of the Natural profile parameters that control various standard attributes used during the creation of Natural reports.
Natural provides several profile and/or session parameters you can use to control the format in which fields are output:
| Parameter | Function |
|---|---|
LC,
IC and
TC
|
With these session parameters, you can specify characters that are to be displayed before or after a field or before a field value. |
AL and
NL
|
With these session parameters, you can increase or reduce the output length of fields. |
DL
|
With this session parameter, you can specify the default output length for an alphanumeric map field of format U. |
SG
|
With this session parameter, you can determine whether negative values are to be displayed with or without a minus sign. |
IS
|
With this session parameter, you can suppress the display of subsequent identical field values. |
ZP
|
With this profile and session parameter, you can determine
whether field values of 0 are to be displayed or not.
|
ES
|
With this session parameter, you can suppress the display of
empty lines generated by a DISPLAY or
WRITE
statement.
|
These parameters are discussed in the following sections.
With the session parameter LC, you can specify
leading characters that are to be displayed immediately before a field
that is output with a DISPLAY statement. The width of
the output column is enlarged accordingly. You can specify 1 to 10
characters.
By default, values are displayed left-justified in alphanumeric fields
and right-justified in numeric fields. (These defaults can be changed with the
AD parameter; see the
Parameter
Reference). When a leading character is specified for an
alphanumeric field, the character is therefore displayed immediately before the
field value; for a numeric field, a number of spaces may occur between the
leading character and the field value.
The LC parameter can be
used with the following statements:
The LC parameter can be set at statement level
and at element level.
The session parameter LCU is identical to
the session parameter LC. The difference
is that the leading characters are always stored in Unicode format.
This allows you to specify leading characters with mixed characters from different code pages, and assures that always the correct character is displayed independent of the installed system code page.
For further information, see Unicode and Code Page Support in the Natural Programming Language, Session Parameters, section EMU, ICU, LCU, TCU versus EM, IC, LC, TC.
The parameters LCU and ICU
cannot both be applied to one field.
With the session parameter IC, you specify the
characters to be inserted in the column immediately preceding the value of
a field that is output with a DISPLAY statement. You can
specify 1 to 10 characters.
For a numeric field, the insertion characters will be placed immediately
before the first significant digit that is output, with no intervening spaces
between the specified character and the field value. For alphanumeric fields,
the effect of the IC parameter is the same as that of
the LC
parameter.
The parameters LC and
IC cannot
both be applied to one field.
The IC parameter can be
used with the following statements:
The IC parameter can be set at statement level
and at element level.
The session parameter ICU is identical to
the session parameter IC. The difference
is that the insertion characters are always stored in Unicode format.
This allows you to specify insertion characters with mixed characters from different code pages, and assures that always the correct character is displayed independent of the installed system code page.
For further information, see Unicode and Code Page Support in the Natural Programming Language, Session Parameters, section EMU, ICU, LCU, TCU versus EM, IC, LC, TC.
The parameters LCU and ICU
cannot both be applied to one field.
With the session parameter TC, you can specify
trailing characters that are to be displayed immediately to the right of a
field that is output with a DISPLAY statement. The width of
the output column is enlarged accordingly. You can specify 1 to 10
characters.
The TC parameter can be
used with the following statements:
The TC parameter can be set at statement level
and at element level.
The session parameter TCU is identical to
the session parameter TC. The difference
is that the trailing characters are always stored in Unicode format.
This allows you to specify trailing characters with mixed characters from different code pages, and assures that always the correct character is displayed independent of the installed system code page.
For further information, see Unicode and Code Page Support in the Natural Programming Language, Session Parameters, section EMU, ICU, LCU, TCU versus EM, IC, LC, TC.
With the session parameter AL, you can specify
the output length for an alphanumeric field; with the
NL
parameter, you can specify the output length for a numeric field. This
determines the length of a field as it will be output, which may be shorter or
longer than the actual length of the field (as defined in the DDM for a
database field, or in the DEFINE
DATA statement for a user-defined variable).
Both parameters can be used with the following statements:
Both parameters can be set at statement level and at element level.
Note:
If an edit mask is specified, it overrides an
NL or
AL
specification. Edit masks are
described in Edit Masks - EM
Parameter.
Note:
You should use the Web I/O Interface to make use of the
full functionality of the DL parameter. When using the
terminal emulation, it is not possible, for example, to scroll in a field when
the value defined with DL is smaller than the field
length.
With the session parameter DL, you can specify
the display length for a field of format A or U, since the display
width of a Unicode string can be twice the length of the string, and the user
must be able to display the whole string. The default will be the length, for
example, for a format/length U10, the display length can be 10 to 20, whereas
the default length (when DL is not specified) is 10.
The session parameter DL can be used with the
following statements:
The session parameter DL can be set at statement
level and at element level.
The difference between the session parameters
AL and
DL is that
AL defines the data length of a field whereas
DL defines the number of columns which are used on the
screen for displaying the field. The user can scroll in input fields to view
the entire content of a field if the value specified with the
DL session parameter is less than the length of the
field data.
Using the DL parameter with a
length that is smaller than the length of the field is only recommended with
the Web I/O Interface. When running Natural in a terminal emulation, scrolling
in a field is not possible and so the effect is the same as using the
AL parameter. Moreover, when changing the field
contents, all characters which are beyond the display length will be lost.
Note:DL is allowed for A-format fields as well.
In conjunction with the Web I/O Interface,
this would allow making the edit control
size smaller than the content of a field.
DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 #U1 (U10) 1 #U2 (U10) END-DEFINE * #U1 := U'latintxt00' #U2 := U'' * INPUT (AD=M) #U1 #U2 END
The above program produces the following output where the content of the
field #U2 is incomplete:
#U1 latintxt00 #U2
When the session parameter DL is used with the
field #U2 and is specified accordingly, the content of this field
will be displayed correctly:
DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 #U1 (U10) 1 #U2 (U10) END-DEFINE * #U1 := U'latintxt00' #U2 := U'
Result:
#U1 latintxt00 #U2
With the session parameter SG, you can
determine whether or not a sign position is to be allocated for numeric
fields.
By default, SG=ON applies, which means that a
sign position is allocated for numeric fields.
If you specify SG=OFF, negative values in
numeric fields will be output without a minus sign (-).
The SG parameter can be used with the following
statements:
The SG parameter can be set at both statement
level and element level.
Note:
If an edit mask is specified, it overrides an
SG
specification. Edit masks are
described in Edit Masks - EM
Parameter.
** Example 'FORMAX03': FORMAT (without FORMAT and compare with FORMAX04)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 NAME
2 FIRST-NAME
2 SALARY (1:1)
2 BONUS (1:1,1:1)
END-DEFINE
*
READ (5) VIEWEMP BY NAME STARTING FROM 'JONES'
DISPLAY NAME
FIRST-NAME
SALARY (1:1)
BONUS (1:1,1:1)
END-READ
END
The above program contains no parameter settings and produces the following output:
Page 1 04-11-11 11:11:11
NAME FIRST-NAME ANNUAL BONUS
SALARY
-------------------- -------------------- ---------- ----------
JONES VIRGINIA 46000 9000
JONES MARSHA 50000 0
JONES ROBERT 31000 0
JONES LILLY 24000 0
JONES EDWARD 37600 0
In this example, the session parameters
AL,
NL,
LC,
IC and
TC are
used.
** Example 'FORMAX04': FORMAT (with parameters AL, NL, LC, TC, IC and
** compare with FORMAX03)
************************************************************************
DEFINE DATA LOCAL
1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES
2 NAME
2 FIRST-NAME
2 SALARY (1:1)
2 BONUS (1:1,1:1)
END-DEFINE
*
FORMAT AL=10 NL=6
*
READ (5) VIEWEMP BY NAME STARTING FROM 'JONES'
DISPLAY NAME (LC=*)
FIRST-NAME (TC=*)
SALARY (1:1) (IC=$)
BONUS (1:1,1:1) (LC=>)
END-READ
END
The above program produces the following output. Compare the layout of this output with that of the previous program to see the effect of the individual parameters:
Page 1 04-11-11 11:11:11
NAME FIRST-NAME ANNUAL BONUS
SALARY
----------- ----------- -------- --------
*JONES VIRGINIA * $46000 > 9000
*JONES MARSHA * $50000 > 0
*JONES ROBERT * $31000 > 0
*JONES LILLY * $24000 > 0
*JONES EDWARD * $37600 > 0
As you can see in the above example, any output length you specify with
the AL or
NL
parameter does not include any characters specified with the
LC,
IC and
TC
parameters: the width of the NAME column, for example, is 11
characters - 10 for the field value (AL=10) plus 1 leading
character.
The width of the SALARY and BONUS columns is
8 characters - 6 for the field value (NL=6), plus 1 leading/inserted
character, plus 1 sign position (because SG=ON applies).
With the session parameter IS, you can suppress
the display of identical information in successive lines created by a
WRITE or
DISPLAY
statement.
By default, IS=OFF applies, which means that identical
field values will be displayed.
If IS=ON is specified, a value which is identical to the
previous value of that field will not be displayed.
The IS parameter can be specified
with a FORMAT
statement to apply to the whole report, or
in a DISPLAY
or WRITE statement at
both statement level and element level.
The effect of the parameter IS=ON can be
suspended for one record by using the statement
SUSPEND IDENTICAL
SUPPRESS; see the Statements
documentation for details.
Compare the output of the following two example programs to see the
effect of the IS parameter. In the second one, the
display of identical values in the NAME field is suppressed.
** Example 'FORMAX05': FORMAT (without parameter IS ** and compare with FORMAX06) ************************************************************************ DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES 2 NAME 2 FIRST-NAME END-DEFINE * READ (3) VIEWEMP BY NAME STARTING FROM 'JONES' DISPLAY NAME FIRST-NAME END-READ END
The above program produces the following output:
Page 1 04-11-11 11:11:11
NAME FIRST-NAME
-------------------- --------------------
JONES VIRGINIA
JONES MARSHA
JONES ROBERT
** Example 'FORMAX06': FORMAT (with parameter IS ** and compare with FORMAX05) ************************************************************************ DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES 2 NAME 2 FIRST-NAME END-DEFINE * FORMAT IS=ON * READ (3) VIEWEMP BY NAME STARTING FROM 'JONES' DISPLAY NAME FIRST-NAME END-READ END
The above program produces the following output:
Page 1 04-11-11 11:54:01
NAME FIRST-NAME
-------------------- --------------------
JONES VIRGINIA
MARSHA
ROBERT
With the profile and session parameter ZP, you determine how a
field value of zero is to be displayed.
By default, ZP=ON applies, which means that one
0 (for numeric fields) or all zeros (for time fields) will be
displayed for each field value that is zero.
If you specify ZP=OFF, the display of each field value
which is zero will be suppressed.
The ZP
parameter can be specified
with a FORMAT
statement to apply to the whole report, or
in a DISPLAY
or WRITE statement at
both statement level and element level.
Compare the output of the following two
example programs to see the effect
of the parameters ZP and
ES.
With the session parameter ES, you can suppress
the output of empty lines created by a DISPLAY or
WRITE statement.
By default, ES=OFF applies, which means that lines
containing all blank values will be displayed.
If ES=ON is specified, a line resulting from a
DISPLAY or
WRITE statement which
contains all blank values will not be displayed. This is particularly useful
when displaying multiple-value fields or fields which are part of a periodic
group if a large number of empty lines are likely to be produced.
The ES parameter can be
specified
with a FORMAT
statement to apply to the whole report, or
Note:
To achieve empty suppression for numeric values, in addition to
ES=ON the parameter ZP=OFF must also be set for the
fields concerned in order to have null values turned into blanks and thus not
output either.
Compare the output of the following two example programs to see the
effect of the parameters ZP and
ES.
** Example 'FORMAX07': FORMAT (without parameter ES and ZP ** and compare with FORMAX08) ************************************************************************ DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES 2 NAME 2 FIRST-NAME 2 BONUS (1:2,1:1) END-DEFINE * READ (4) VIEWEMP BY NAME STARTING FROM 'JONES' DISPLAY NAME FIRST-NAME BONUS (1:2,1:1) END-READ END
The above program produces the following output:
Page 1 04-11-11 11:58:23
NAME FIRST-NAME BONUS
-------------------- -------------------- ----------
JONES VIRGINIA 9000
6750
JONES MARSHA 0
0
JONES ROBERT 0
0
JONES LILLY 0
0
** Example 'FORMAX08': FORMAT (with parameters ES and ZP ** and compare with FORMAX07) ************************************************************************ DEFINE DATA LOCAL 1 VIEWEMP VIEW OF EMPLOYEES 2 NAME 2 FIRST-NAME 2 BONUS (1:2,1:1) END-DEFINE * FORMAT ES=ON * READ (4) VIEWEMP BY NAME STARTING FROM 'JONES' DISPLAY NAME FIRST-NAME BONUS (1:2,1:1)(ZP=OFF) END-READ END
The above program produces the following output:
Page 1 04-11-11 11:59:09
NAME FIRST-NAME BONUS
-------------------- -------------------- ----------
JONES VIRGINIA 9000
6750
JONES MARSHA
JONES ROBERT
JONES LILLY
For further examples of the parameters
LC,
IC,
TC,
AL,
NL,
IS,
ZP and
ES, and
the SUSPEND IDENTICAL
SUPPRESS statement, see the following example programs: