IBM Extension
IBM Extension
FORMAT Clause
The FORMAT clause specifies the general characteristics and editing requirements of an elementary date, time, or timestamp item.
FORMAT Clause - Format >>-FORMAT--+----+--+-DATE------+--+----+------------------------> '-OF-' +-TIME------+ '-IS-' '-TIMESTAMP-' >--+-----------------------------+----------------------------->< '-+-literal-2--| phrase 1 |-+-' '-| phrase 2 |------------' phrase 1 |--SIZE--+----+--integer-4--+-------------------------------------+--| '-IS-' '-LOCALE--+-------------------------+-' '-+----+--mnemonic-name-1-' '-IS-' phrase 2 |--SIZE--+----+--integer-5--LOCALE--+-------------------------+--| '-IS-' '-+----+--mnemonic-name-2-' '-IS-'
The FORMAT clause must be specified for every elementary date, time, or timestamp item, except the subject of a RENAMES clause.
If the SIZE phrase is not specified for a timestamp
item, the size defaults to 26. If it is specified, it must have a
value of 19, or a value between 21 and 32.
literal-2 and the LOCALE phrase cannot be specified
for a timestamp item. A timestamp has a fixed format, which is dependent
on the size of the timestamp item. - When the SIZE phrase is not specified, the format is equivalent to a literal-2 value of "@Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S.@Sm".
- When the SIZE phrase is specified with a value of 19, the format is equivalent to a literal-2 value of "@Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S".
- When the SIZE phrase is specified as a value between 21 and 32, the format is equivalent to a literal-2 value of "@Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S." followed by the fractional seconds in the timestamp. For example, a timestamp with size 25 could have the value "2014-01-23-01.02.03.12345".

If literal-2 or the LOCALE phrase is not specified for a date or time item, the format of the item is determined from the SPECIAL-NAMES FORMAT clause.
A data item of class date-time cannot be reference modified.
When the FORMAT clause is specified, the following clauses cannot
be specified:
- PICTURE clause.
- SIGN clause.
- BLANK WHEN ZERO clause.
- JUSTIFIED clause.
- LIKE clause. A LIKE clause can, however, be used to define the FORMAT of a data item. You cannot change the size of a date, time, or timestamp item with a LIKE clause. When a LIKE clause is referring to a date, time, or timestamp item, a comment is generated with the appropriate FORMAT clause information that is inherited
- TYPE clause.
The following general rules apply:
- A condition-name can be associated with a date-time item. The VALUE clause of the condition-name can be specified with a THRU phrase.
- A SYNCHRONIZED clause is treated as documentation.
- The OCCURS, REDEFINES, and RENAMES clauses can be associated with date, time, or timestamp items.
- If a LIKE clause is specified, a FORMAT clause cannot be specified.
- Any associated VALUE clause must specify a non-numeric literal. The literal is treated exactly as specified; no formatting is done.
- literal-2
- Specifies the format of a date or time item. Literal-2 must be a non-numeric literal, at least 2 characters long. The contents of literal-2 is made up of separators and conversion specifiers. For a list of valid conversion specifiers, see Table 1. For further rules on the contents of literal-2, see the description of the FORMAT clause used in the SPECIAL-NAMES paragraph in FORMAT Clause.
End of IBM Extension
