FORMAT

Controls the way in which a variable is displayed, or shows the display format for the variable.


>>-+-FORmat-+--+-variable-name----------------------+----------><
   '-FMT----'  | .-;-------------.                  |   
               | V               |                  |   
               '---variable-name-+--+-*-----------+-'   
                                    '-format-type-'

variable-name

The variable for which the format is being set.

If only one variable is supplied, and there are no following parameters, then a message is displayed. The message indicates the display format for the variable.

*

The variables listed inherit their display format from the current display format for the underlying variable classes.

format-type

The display format for the listed variables.

Must be appropriate to the underlying data classes of the variables:

Binary float: HEX
Bit: BIT|HEX
Char: EBCDIC|ASCII|CHAR|HEX|PACKED|ZONED
Fixed: DECIMAL|HEX
Hexadecimal float: STD|STANDARD|FIXED|SCIENCE|HEX
Packed Decimal: DECIMAL|HEX
Zoned Decimal: DECIMAL|HEX

See the following commands for more details:

The format in which a variable is displayed is set in two ways:

With the appropriate IDF command to change the default display format for the all variables within the fundamental data type (or class) to which the variable belongs
With the FORMAT command, to specify an explicit display format for this particular variable. This overrides the class display format.

Return codes

0: Operation successful
2: Keyword truncated
5: Not valid display format for specified variables