An edit word consists of three parts: the body, the status, and the expansion. The following shows the three parts of an edit word:
The body is the space for the digits transferred from the source data field to the edited result. The body begins at the leftmost position of the edit word. The number of blanks (plus one zero or an asterisk) in the edit word body must be equal to or greater than the number of digits of the source data field to be edited. The body ends with the rightmost character that can be replaced by a digit.
The status defines a space to allow for a negative indicator, either the two letters CR or a minus sign (-). The negative indicator specified is output only if the source data is negative. All characters in the edit word between the last replaceable character (blank, zero suppression character) and the negative indicator are also output with the negative indicator only if the source data is negative; if the source data is positive, these status positions are replaced by blanks. Edit words without the CR or - indicators have no status positions.
The status must be entered after the last blank in the edit word. If more than one CR follows the last blank, only the first CR is treated as a status; the remaining CRs are treated as constants. For the minus sign to be considered as a status, it must be the last character in the edit word.
The expansion is a series of ampersands and constant characters entered after the status. Ampersands are replaced by blank spaces in the output; constants are output as is. If status is not specified, the expansion follows the body.