5.3.11.9.1 "COBOL Language Reference" IBM Library Server

5.3.11.9.1 Representing Zero Suppression

In a PICTURE character-string, there are two ways to represent zero suppression, and two ways in which editing is performed:

Any or all of the leading numeric character positions to the left of the decimal point are represented by suppression symbols. When editing is performed, the replacement character replaces any leading zero in the data that appears in the same character position as a suppression symbol. Suppression stops at the leftmost character:
- That does not correspond to a suppression symbol
- That contains nonzero data
- That is the decimal point.
All the numeric character positions in the PICTURE character-string are represented by the suppression symbols. When editing is performed, and the value of the data is nonzero, the result is the same as in the preceding rule. If the value of the data is zero, then:
- If Z has been specified, the entire data item will contain spaces.
- If * has been specified, the entire data item, except the actual decimal point, will contain asterisks.

For example:

PICTURE Value of Data Edited Result

****.** 0000.00 ****.** ZZZZ.ZZ 0000.00 ZZZZ.99 0000.00 .00 ****.99 0000.00 ****.00 ZZ99.99 0000.00 00.00 Z,ZZZ.ZZ+ +123.456 123.45+ *,***.**+ -123.45 **123.45- **,***,***.**+ +12345678.9 12,345,678.90+ $Z,ZZZ,ZZZ.ZZCR +12345.67 $ 12,345.67 $B*,***,***.**BBDB -12345.67 $ ***12,345.67 DB

Do not specify both the asterisk (*) as a suppression symbol and the BLANK WHEN ZERO clause for the same entry.

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5.3.11.9.1 Representing Zero Suppression

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