Specifications

CHAPTER 24 DataWindow Expression and InfoMaker Functions
Users Guide 747
Syntax String ( data {, format } )
Return value
String. Returns data in the specified format if it succeeds and the empty string
(“”) if the datatype of data does not match the type of display mask specified
or format is not a valid mask.
Usage For date, DateTime, numeric, and time data, the system’s default format is used
for the returned string if you do not specify a format. For numeric data, the
default format is the [General] format.
For string data, a display format mask is required. (Otherwise, the function
would have nothing to do.)
The format can consist of one or more masks:
• Formats for date, DateTime, string, and time data can include one or two
masks. The first mask is the format for the data; the second mask is the
format for a null value.
• Formats for numeric data can have up to four masks. A format with a
single mask handles both positive and negative data. If there are additional
masks, the first mask is for positive values, and the additional masks are
for negative, zero, and null values.
A format can include color specifications.
If the display format does not match the datatype, the attempt to apply the mask
produces unpredictable results.
For information on specifying display formats, see the Users Guide.
For information about localized deployment files, see “Deploying Your
Application” in the Users Guide.
Examples This expression returns Jan 31, 2005:
String(2005-01-31, "mmm dd, yyyy")
This expression returns Jan 31, 2005 6 hrs and 8 min:
Argument Description
data The data you want returned as a string with the specified formatting.
Data can have a date, DateTime, numeric, time, or string datatype.
format
(optional)
A string of the display masks you want to use to format the data.
The masks consist of formatting information specific to the
datatype of data. If data is type string, format is required.
The format string can consist of more than one mask, depending on
the datatype of data. Each mask is separated by a semicolon. See
Usage for details on each datatype.