EDIT: Converting the Format of a Field

How to:

The EDIT function converts an alphanumeric field that contains numeric characters to numeric format or converts a numeric field to alphanumeric format.

This function is useful for manipulating a field in an expression that performs an operation that requires operands in a particular format.

When EDIT assigns a converted value to a new field, the format of the new field must correspond to the format of the returned value. For example, if EDIT converts a numeric field to alphanumeric format, you must give the new field an alphanumeric format:

DEFINE ALPHAPRICE/A6 = EDIT(PRICE);

EDIT deals with a symbol in the following way:

EDIT also extracts characters from or add characters to an alphanumeric string. For more information, see EDIT: Extracting or Adding Characters.

Syntax: How to Convert the Format of a Field

EDIT(fieldname);

where:

fieldname
Alphanumeric or Numeric

Is the field name.

Example: Converting From Numeric to Alphanumeric Format

EDIT converts HIRE_DATE (a legacy date format) to alphanumeric format.

EDIT(HIRE_DATE)

For 82/04/01, the result is 820401.

For 81/11/02, the result is 811102.

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