17. Forms Statements : set_frs Statement--Set FRS Features : How You Can Change a Field's Format
 
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How You Can Change a Field's Format
The format constant allows you to change the display format of a simple field or a column of a table field. The syntax for changing the format of a simple field is
set_frs field form_name (format(field_name) = value)
The syntax for changing the format of a column of a table field is:
set_frs column form_name table_name
    (format(columnname) = value)
The new format is subject to the following constraints:
It must be compatible with the field's data type.
The number of rows and columns cannot exceed the size of the original format.
Any data in the field must be valid.
Shown below are examples of changing a field's format:
To change a date field to display dates in a format of ddmmmyyy (for example, 14 Jan 1999):
exec frs set_frs field myform
    (format(datefld)= 'd"03 Feb 1901"');
To change a numeric field to display monetary values as $nnn,nnn,nnn.nn:
exec frs set_frs field myform
    (format(salary)='"nnn,nnn,nnn.nn"');
To change a floating point column to display three values after the decimal point:
exec frs set_frs column myform mytable
     (format(floatcol)='f12.3');
See the Character-based Querying and Reporting Tools User Guide for a complete discussion of form field display formats.