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Numeric Expression Formats
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 Numeric Expression Formats
 
 ■ Default settings for date and time formats are determined by the operating
   system. See: Date and Time Command Summary
 
 ■ Visual Basic supports international formatting styles under MS-DOS
   version 3.31 or later. See: FORMAT$ Function
 
 ■ You can use the following symbols to create the format expression used
   with FORMAT$:
 
         Value              Description
         ═══════════════    ════════════════════════════════════════════════
         Null string        General format (no formatting)
         0                  Digit placeholder
                            • If the number has fewer digits than there are
                              zeros (on either side of the decimal) in the
                              format expression, leading or trailing zeros
                              are displayed.
                            • If the number has more digits to the right of
                              the decimal point than there are zeros to the
                              right of the decimal in the format expression,
                              the number is rounded to as many decimal places
                              as there are zeros.
                            • If the number has more digits to the left of
                              the decimal point than there are zeros to the
                              left in the format expression, the extra digits
                              are displayed.
         #                  Digit placeholder
                            • Follows the same rules as for the 0 digit
                              placeholder, except that extra zeros are not
                              displayed if the number has fewer digits on
                              either side of the decimal point than there
                              are #'s on either side of the format.
         .                  Decimal point
                            • This symbol determines how many digits (#'s or
                              0's) display to the right and left of the
                              decimal point. Note: Some international
                              settings may cause the comma to be used
                              as a decimal point rather than a period.
                            • If the format contains only #'s to the left
                              of this symbol, then numbers smaller than 1
                              are begun with a decimal point. To avoid this,
                              you should use 0 as the first digit placeholder
                              to the left of a decimal point instead of #.
         %                  Percentage
                            • The expression is multiplied by 100 and the
                              % character is inserted.
         ,                  Thousands separator
                            • Visual Basic separates thousands by commas (or
                              by periods if the country code has been set to
                              a country other than the United States) if the
                              format contains a comma surrounded by #'s or
                              0's.
                            • Two adjacent commas, or a comma immediately to
                              the left of the decimal point location (whether
                              there is a decimal specified or not) means
                              "Omit the three digits that fall between these
                              commas, or between the comma and the decimal
                              point, rounding as needed."  Large numbers can
                              be scaled using this technique. For example,
                              the format string "##0,,." can be used to
                              represent 100 million, as simple 100. Numbers
                              smaller than 1 million are displayed as 0.
         E- E+ e- e+        Scientific format
                            • If a format contains one digit placeholder
                              (0 or #) to the right of an E-, E+, e-, or e+,
                              Visual Basic displays the number in scientific
                              format and inserts an E or e between the number
                              and its exponent.
                            • The number of 0's or #'s to the right
                              determines the number of digits in the
                              exponent.
                            • Use E- or e- to place a minus sign next to
                              negative exponents. Use a E+ or e+ to place a
                              minus sign next to negative exponents and a
                              plus sign next to positive exponents.
         : • + $ () space   Display literal character
                            • To display a character other than one of these,
                              precede the character with a backslash (\) or
                              enclose the character(s) in double quotation
                              marks ("").
         \                  Display next character in format string
                            • Many characters in the format string have a
                              special meaning and cannot be displayed as
                              literal characters unless they are preceded
                              by a backslash. The backslash is not
                              displayed. This is the same as enclosing the
                              next character in double quotation marks.
                            • Examples of such characters are the date-
                              and time-formatting characters (y, m, d, h,
                              s, a, and p) and the numeric-formatting
                              characters (#, 0, %, E, e, comma, and
                              period).
         "abc"              Display text inside double quotes
                            • To include a text string in fmt$, you must
                              use CHR$(34) to enclose the text (34 is the
                              ASCII code for double quotation mark).
         :                  Time separator
                            • The time separator is used to separate hours,
                              minutes, and seconds when time values are
                              formatted.
         /                  Date separator
                            • The date separator is used to separate day,
                              month, and year when date values are formatted.
 
 See: Sample Numeric Formats  Format Specifiers