HP Data Entry and Forms Management System (VPLUS) Reference Manual (32209-90024)

Chapter 4 167
Advanced Forms Design
FILL
FILL
Used to replace all the blanks between the field boundaries and the first or last nonblank
data character with a designated character.
Syntax
[FILL {TRAILING
LEADING } "
character "]
Parameters
TRAILING FILL TRAILING replaces those blanks following the data with the specified
character.
LEADING FILL LEADING replaces the blanks preceding the data with the specified
character.
character The specified character is any single character.
Discussion
The FILL statement can be used to format data entered into or moved to any field. (For
automatic formatting, refer to the SET command earlier in this section.) As is true of all
formatting statements, FILL has an immediate effect on the data in the memory buffer;
the formatted data is then available for display or copying into the application. When the
user enters data into a field for which formatting is specified, the data is formatted as soon
as
ENTER or an appropriate function key is pressed. Thus, FORMSPEC formatting is done
before data is written to the data or batch file. (In contrast, reformatting through
REFORMAT, described in Section 5, is done after data is collected, edited, and written to
the batch file.)
If you want the field to remain blank, redefine the processing specification using a
statement such as:
IF NE $EMPTY THEN FILL LEADING “0”.
Example
Note that more than one formatting statement can be specified. Since the statements are
executed in order of appearance, the FILL statement in the second example above affects
the data justified by the preceding JUSTIFY statement.
Statement Data Entered After Formatting
FILL TRAILING "*" [∆250∆∆∆][∆250***]
JUSTIFY RIGHT [∆250∆∆∆] [0000250]
FILL LEADING "O"