| How to change a field
format |
Each field
has a format specification defining how the field
contents are to be stored on the data. Normally fields
are stored as plain ASCII text, each separated with a
field separator character (usually a HEX 8A). The following is a list of the
format types supported:
| Delimited |
Standard
ASCII text field followed by a separator
character (normally $8A$) |
| Fixed |
ASCII
text field that when written to the file will be
padded with spaces up to its specified field
length. When the field is read, the trailing
spaces will be stripped. |
| Padded |
ASCII
text field that when written to the file will be
padded with spaces up to its specified field
length. When the field is read, the trailing
spaces will NOT be stripped. |
| Substring |
ASCII
text field that when written to the file will be
padded with spaces up to its specified field
length. When the field is read, only data up to
the length specified or a field separator is
accepted. If a field separator is encountered
within the length assigned to the field, it will
not be processed. Data must NOT
contain the field separator character. |
| Last
Substring |
ASCII
text field that when written to the file will be
padded with spaces up to its specified field
length followed by a field separator. When the
field is read, only data up to the length
specified or a field separator is accepted. When
read, all data following the length given up to
and including the field separator will be
ignored. Data must NOT contain
the field separator character. |
| Binary |
Numeric
value stored in a 2's compliment binary format
with leading sign bit. If a scale is present, the
number is adjusted by the number of decimal
places indicated. |
| Unsigned
Binary |
Unsigned
numeric value stored in binary format. If a scale
is present, the number is adjusted by the number
of decimal places indicated. |
| Decimal |
Standard
numeric value converted to ASCII and stored in a
fixed length field. |
| Trialing
Sign |
Numeric
value converted to ASCII with a trailing sign
character. |
To change the format of a
field type, simply click on the 'Internal Format' field
for the desired column.
|