Number display formats – PB Docs 2019

A number display format can have up to four sections. Only the
first is required. The three other sections determine how the data
displays if its value is negative, zero, or NULL. The sections are
separated by semi-colons:

Special characters

The following table lists characters that have special meaning
in number display formats.

Percent signs, decimal points, parentheses, and spaces display
as entered in the mask.

Number keywords

You can use the following keywords as number display formats
when you want PowerBuilder to determine an appropriate format to
use:

Note that [Currency] and [Currency(n)] are legal edit masks, but
they are not legal display formats.

Percentages

Use caution when defining an edit mask for a percentage. When
you enter a number in a column with a percent edit mask and tab off
the column, PowerBuilder divides the number by 100 and stores the
result in the buffer. For example, if you enter 23, PowerBuilder
passes .23 to the buffer. When you retrieve from the database,
PowerBuilder multiplies the number by 100 and, if the mask is ##0%,
displays 23%.

The datatype for the column must be numeric or decimal to handle
the result of a division by 100. If the column has an integer
datatype, a percentage entered as 333 is retrieved from the database
as 300, and 33 is retrieved as 0.

If you use an edit mask with decimals, such as ##0.00%, the
datatype must have enough decimal places to handle the division. For
example, if you enter 33.33, the datatype for the column must have at
least four decimal places because the result of the division is .3333.
If the datatype has only three decimal places, the percentage is
retrieved as 33.30.

Examples

The following table shows how the values 5, –5, and .5 display
when different format masks are applied.