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5.3.11.1 Symbols Used in the PICTURE Clause



The meaning of each PICTURE clause symbol is defined in Table 12 in topic 5.3.11.1. The sequence in which PICTURE clause symbols must be specified is shown in Figure 6 in topic 5.3.11.1. More detailed explanations of PICTURE clause symbols follow the figures.

Any punctuation character appearing within the PICTURE character-string is not considered a punctuation character, but rather a PICTURE character-string symbol.

When specified in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph, DECIMAL-POINT IS COMMA exchanges the functions of the period and the comma in PICTURE character strings and in numeric literals.

The lowercase letters corresponding to the uppercase letters representing the following PICTURE symbols are equivalent to their uppercase representations in a PICTURE character-string:


     A, B, P, S, V, X, Z, CR, DB
 X   E, G, N


X All other lowercase letters are not equivalent to their corresponding
X uppercase representations.

The heading Size refers to the number of bytes the symbol contributes to the actual size of the data item.

In the following description of the PICTURE clause, cs indicates any valid currency symbol. For details, see "Currency Symbol" in topic 5.3.11.1.2.


 Table 12. PICTURE Clause Symbol Meanings                                 
 Symbol   Meaning               Size                  Restrictions        
 A      
        
        
        
        
        
 A character         
 position that can   
 contain only a      
 letter of the       
 alphabet or a       
 space.              
 Occupies 1 byte     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 B      
        
        
        
        
        
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
 For Non-DBCS        
 data--a character   
 position into which 
 the space character 
 is inserted.        
 Occupies 1 byte     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  For DBCS data--a    
RevisionX  character position  
RevisionX  into which a DBCS   
RevisionX  space is inserted.  
RevisionX  Represents a single 
RevisionX  DBCS character      
RevisionX  position containing 
RevisionX  a DBCS space.       
RevisionX  Occupies 2 bytes    
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  E      
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX  Marks the start of  
RevisionX  the exponent in an  
RevisionX  external            
RevisionX  floating-point      
RevisionX  item.               
RevisionX  Occupies 1 byte     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  G      
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
        
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX  A DBCS character    
RevisionX  position            
RevisionX                      
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  Occupies 2 bytes    
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  Cannot be specified 
RevisionX  for a non-DBCS      
RevisionX  item.               
                     
RevisionX  Under AIX, OS/2,    
RevisionX  and Windows, the    
RevisionX  locale you select   
RevisionX  must indicate a     
RevisionX  DBCS code page.     
RevisionX  For information on  
RevisionX  locale, see         
RevisionX  Appendix F, "Locale 
RevisionX  Considerations      
RevisionX  (Workstation Only)" 
RevisionX  in                  
RevisionX  topic APPENDIX1.6.  
RevisionX  N      
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
        
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX  A DBCS character    
RevisionX  position            
RevisionX                      
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  Occupies 2 bytes    
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX  Cannot be specified 
RevisionX  for a non-DBCS      
RevisionX  item.               
                     
RevisionX  Under AIX, OS/2,    
RevisionX  and Windows, the    
RevisionX  locale you select   
RevisionX  must indicate a     
RevisionX  DBCS code page.     
RevisionX  For information on  
RevisionX  locale, see         
RevisionX  Appendix F, "Locale 
RevisionX  Considerations      
RevisionX  (Workstation Only)" 
RevisionX  in                  
RevisionX  topic APPENDIX1.6.  
 P      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 An assumed decimal  
 scaling position.   
 Used to specify the 
 location of an      
 assumed decimal     
 point when the      
 point is not within 
 the number that     
 appears in the data 
 item.  See also "P  
 Symbol" in          
 topic 5.3.11.1.1.   
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 Not counted in the  
 size of the data    
 item.  Scaling      
 position characters 
 are counted in      
 determining the     
 maximum number of   
 digit positions     
 (18) in             
 numeric-edited      
 items or in items   
 that appear as      
 arithmetic          
 operands.           
                     
 The size of the     
 value is the number 
 of digit positions  
 represented by the  
 PICTURE             
 character-string.   
 Can appear only as  
 a continuous string 
 of Ps in the        
 leftmost or         
 rightmost digit     
 positions within a  
 PICTURE             
 character-string.   
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 S      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 An indicator of the 
 presence (but not   
 the representation  
 nor, necessarily,   
 the position) of an 
 operational sign.   
 An operational sign 
 indicates whether   
 the value of an     
 item involved in an 
 operation is        
 positive or         
 negative.           
 Not counted in      
 determining the     
 size of the         
 elementary item,    
 unless an           
 associated SIGN     
 clause specifies    
 the SEPARATE        
 CHARACTER phrase    
 (which would occupy 
 1 byte).            
                     
                     
 Must be written as  
 the leftmost        
 character in the    
 PICTURE string.     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 V      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 An indicator of the 
 location of the     
 assumed decimal     
 point.  Does not    
 represent a         
 character position. 
                     
 When the assumed    
 decimal point is to 
 the right of the    
 rightmost symbol in 
 the string, the V   
 is redundant.       
 Not counted in the  
 size of the         
 elementary item     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 Can appear only     
 once in a           
 character-string.   
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 X      
        
        
        
        
        
        
 A character         
 position that can   
 contain any         
 allowable character 
 from the character  
 set of the          
 computer.           
 Occupies 1 byte     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 Z      
        
        
        
        
        
 A leading numeric   
 character position. 
 When that position  
 contains a zero, a  
 space character     
 replaces the zero.  
 Each 'Z' is counted 
 in the size of the  
 data item.          
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 9      
        
        
 A character         
 position that       
 contains a numeral. 
 Each '9' is counted 
 in the size of the  
 data item.          
                     
                     
                     
 0      
        
        
        
 A character         
 position into which 
 the numeral zero is 
 inserted.           
 Each '0' is counted 
 in the size of the  
 data item.          
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 /      
        
        
        
 A character         
 position into which 
 the slash character 
 is inserted.        
 Each '/' is counted 
 in the size of the  
 data item.          
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 ,      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
 A character         
 position into which 
 a comma is          
 inserted.           
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
 Each ',' is counted 
 in the size of the  
 data item.          
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
 If the comma        
 insertion character 
 is the last symbol  
 in the PICTURE      
 character-string,   
 the PICTURE clause  
 must be the last    
 clause of the data  
 description entry   
 and must be         
 immediately         
 followed by the     
 separator period.   
                     
RevisionX  A trailing comma    
RevisionX  insertion character 
RevisionX  can be immediately  
RevisionX  followed by the     
RevisionX  separator comma or  
RevisionX  separator           
RevisionX  semicolon; in this  
RevisionX  case, the PICTURE   
RevisionX  clause need not be  
RevisionX  the last clause of  
RevisionX  the data            
RevisionX  description entry.  
 .      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
RevisionX         
 An editing symbol   
 that represents the 
 decimal point for   
 alignment purposes. 
 In addition, it     
 represents a        
 character position  
 into which a period 
 is inserted.        
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
 Each '.' is counted 
 in the size of the  
 data item.          
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
RevisionX                      
 If the period       
 insertion character 
 is the last symbol  
 in the PICTURE      
 character-string,   
 the PICTURE clause  
 must be the last    
 clause of that data 
 description entry   
 and must be         
 immediately         
 followed by the     
 separator period.   
                     
RevisionX  A trailing period   
RevisionX  insertion character 
RevisionX  can be immediately  
RevisionX  followed by the     
RevisionX  separator comma or  
RevisionX  separator           
RevisionX  semicolon; in this  
RevisionX  case, the PICTURE   
RevisionX  clause need not be  
RevisionX  the last clause of  
RevisionX  the data            
RevisionX  description entry.  
 +      
 -      
 CR     
 DB     
        
        
        
        
 Editing sign        
 control symbols.    
 Each represents the 
 character position  
 into which the      
 editing sign        
 control symbol is   
 placed.             
 Each character used 
 in the symbol is    
 counted in          
 determining the     
 size of the data    
 item.               
                     
                     
 The symbols are     
 mutually exclusive  
 in one              
 character-string.   
                     
                     
                     
                     
 *      
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 A check protect     
 symbol--a leading   
 numeric character   
 position into which 
 an asterisk is      
 placed when that    
 position contains a 
 zero.               
 Each asterisk (*)   
 is counted in the   
 size of the item.   
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
 cs     
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
 Currency symbol,    
 representing a      
 character position  
 into which a        
 currency sign value 
 is placed.  The     
 default currency    
 symbol is the       
 dollar sign ($).    
 For details, see    
 "Currency Symbol"   
 in                  
 topic 5.3.11.1.2.   
 The first           
 occurrence of a     
 currency symbol     
 adds the number of  
 characters in the   
 currency sign value 
 to the size of the  
 data item.  Each    
 subsequent          
 occurrence adds one 
 character to the    
 size of the data    
 item.               
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     
                     


Figure 6 shows the sequence in which PICTURE clause symbols must be specified.


                                   PICTURE 2         

Figure 6. PICTURE Clause Symbol Sequence


Figure Legend:

·
Closed circle indicates that the symbol(s) at the top of the column can, in a given character-string, appear anywhere to the left of the symbol(s) at the left of the row.


X þ
Closed square indicates that the item is an IBM
X extension.

{ }
Braces indicate items that are mutually exclusive.

Symbols that appear twice
Nonfloating insertion symbols + and -, floating insertion symbols Z, *, +, -, and cs, and the symbol P appear twice. The leftmost column and uppermost row for each symbol represents its use to the left of the decimal point position. The second appearance of the symbol in the table represents its use to the right of the decimal point position.

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