Sample format strings for numeric expressions

The following table shows sample format strings for numeric expressions. The character b represents a blank or space.

Table 1. Sample format patterns and their results
Formatting mask	Numeric value	Formatted result
"#####" "&&&&&" "$$$$$" "*****" "<<<<<"	0 0 0 0 0	bbbbb 00000 bbbb$ ***** (null string)
“##,###” "##,###" "##,###" "##,###" "##,###" "##,###" "##,###"	12345 1234 123 12 1 -1 0	12,345 b1,234 bbb123 bbbb12 bbbbb1 bbbbb1 bbbbbb
"&&,&&&" "&&,&&&" "&&,&&&" "&&,&&&" "&&,&&&" "&&,&&&" "&&,&&&"	12345 1234 123 12 1 -1 0	12,345 01,234 000123 000012 000001 000001 000000
"$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" "$$,$$$" (DBMONEY set to DM)	12345 1234 123 12 1 -1 0 1234	***** (overflow) $1,234 bb$123 bbb$12 bbbb$1 bbbb$1 bbbbb$ DM1,234
"," "," ",*" ",*" ",*" ",***"	12345 1234 123 12 1 0	12,345 1,234 123 12 *1 ****
"##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##" "##,###.##"	12345.67 1234.56 123.45 12.34 1.23 0.12 0.01 -0.01 -1	12,345.67 b1,234.56 bbb123.45 bbbb12.34 bbbbb1.23 bbbbbb.12 bbbbbb.01 bbbbbb.01 bbbbb1.00
"&&,&&&.&&" "&&,&&&.&&" "&&,&&&.&&" "&&,&&&.&&"	.67 1234.56 123.45 0.01	000000.67 01,234.56 000123.45 000000.01
"$$,$$$.$$" "$$,$$$.$$" "$$,$$$.##" "$$,$$$.##" "$$,$$$.&&" "$$,$$$.&&"	12345.67 1234.56 0.00 1234.00 0.00 1234.00	********* (overflow) $1,234.56 bbbbb$.00 $1,234.00 bbbbb$.00 $1,234.00
"-##,###.##" "-##,###.##" "-##,###.##" "--#,###.##" "---,###.##" "---,-##.##" "---,--#.##" "--#,###.##" "---,--#.##"	-12345.67 -123.45 -12.34 -12.34 -12.34 -12.34 -12.34 -1.00 -1.00	-12,345.67 -bbb123.45 -bbbb12.34 b-bbb12.34 bb-bb12.34 bbbb-12.34 bbbb-12.34 b-bbbb1.00 bbbbb-1.00
"-##,###.##" "-##,###.##" "-##,###.##" "-##,###.##" "--#,###.##" "---,###.##" "---,-##.##" "---,---.##" "---,---.--" "---,---.&&"	12345.67 1234.56 123.45 12.34 12.34 12.34 12.34 1.00 -.01 -.01	b12,345.67 bb1,234.56 bbbb123.45 bbbbb12.34 bbbbb12.34 bbbbb12.34 bbbbb12.34 bbbbbb1.00 bbbbbb-.01 bbbbbb-.01
"-$$$,$$$.&&" "-$$$,$$$.&&" "-$$$,$$$.&&" "--$$,$$$.&&" "--$$,$$$.&&" "--$$,$$$.&&" "--$$,$$$.&&" "--$$,$$$.&&"	-12345.67 -1234.56 -123.45 -12345.67 -1234.56 -123.45 -12.34 -1.23	-$12,345.67 -b$1,234.56 -bbb$123.45 -$12,345.67 b-$1,234.56 b-bb$123.45 b-bbb$12.34 b-bbbb$1.23
"----,--$.&&" "----,--$.&&" "----,--$.&&" "----,--$.&&" "----,--$.&&" "----,--$.&&"	-12345.67 -1234.56 -123.45 -12.34 -1.23 -.12	-$12,345.67 b-$1,234.56 bbb-$123.45 bbbb-$12.34 bbbbb-$1.23 bbbbbb-$.12
"$*,.&&" "$,.&&" "$,.&&" "$,.&&" "$,.&&" "$,*.&&"	12345.67 1234.56 123.45 12.34 1.23 0.12	$12,345.67 $1,234.56 $*123.45 $*12.34 $**1.23 $*****.12
"($$$,$$$.&&)" "($$$,$$$.&&)" "($$$,$$$.&&)"	-12345.67 -1234.56 -123.45	($12,345.67) (b$1,234.56) (bbb$123.45)
"(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)"	-12345.67 -1234.56 -123.45 -12.34 -1.23 -12345.67 -1234.56 -123.45 -12.34 -1.23 -.12	($12,345.67) b($1,234.56) b(bb$123.45) b(bbb$12.34) b(bbbb$1.23) ($12,345.67) b($1,234.56) bbb($123.45) bbbb($12.34) bbbbb($1.23) bbbbbb($.12)
"($$$,$$$.&&)" "($$$,$$$.&&)" "($$$,$$$.&&)"	12345.67 1234.56 123.45	b$12,345.67 bb$1,234.56 bbbb$123.45
“(($$,$$$.&&)” "(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)" "(($$,$$$.&&)"	12345.67 1234.56 123.45 12.34 1.23	b$12,345.67 bb$1,234.56 bbbb$123.45 bbbbb$12.34 bbbbbb$1.23
"((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)" "((((,(($.&&)"	12345.67 1234.56 123.45 12.34 1.23 0.12	b$12,345.67 bb$1,234.56 bbbb$123.45 bbbbb$12.34 bbbbbb$1.23 bbbbbbb$.12
"<<<,<<<" "<<<,<<<" "<<<,<<<" "<<<,<<<"	12345 1234 123 12	12,345 1,234 123 12