EDIT: Converting the Format of a Field

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:

• When an alphanumeric field is converted to numeric format, a sign or decimal point in the field is stored as part of the numeric value.

  Any other non-numeric characters are invalid, and EDIT returns the value zero.

• When converting a floating-point or packed-decimal field to alphanumeric format, EDIT removes the sign, the decimal point, and any number to the right of the decimal point. It then right-justifies the remaining digits and adds leading zeros to achieve the specified field length. Converting a number with more than nine significant digits in floating-point or packed-decimal format may produce an incorrect result.