User`s guide
4-50 A-63054 February 2004
Mask syntax Following are mask syntax values and some examples of how to use them.
A Strict alpha (no symbols such as: - _ ( ) + … are allowed).
9 Strict numeric (no symbols such as - _ ( ) + … are allowed).
X Alpha and/or numeric (but no symbols such as - _ ( ) + …
are allowed).
? Anything (including special symbols and spaces).
D,M,Y Date characters. The mask for a Julian date is YYDDD.
HH,hh,mm,ss,tt HH = 24 hours, hh = 12 hours, mm = minutes,
ss = seconds, tt = AM/PM
“FIXED TEXT” Everything between double quotes is a fixed required value.
NOTE: The A and X mask syntax characters can be lower- or uppercase. The
date mask syntax characters (D,M,Y) must be uppercase.
Example
9(4) or 9999 for a four-character numeric field.
A(4) or AAAA for a four-character alphabetic text field.
MMDDYY for a six-character date field in month, day, year format.
999”-“ 99”-“ 9999 for a delimited Social Security Number.
NOTES: If the index field value must exactly match the Input Mask, make sure
that the Minimum Length specified is equal to the number of
characters represented by the Input Mask.
For example, if the Input Mask is AA9(6), set the Minimum Length
to 8.