There are two general methods of editing in a PICTURE clause:
The type of editing allowed for an item depends on its data category. The type of editing that is valid for each category is shown in the following table. cs indicates any valid currency symbol.
| Data category | Type of editing | Insertion symbol |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabetic | None | None |
| Numeric | None | None |
| Numeric-edited | Simple insertion
Special insertion Fixed insertion Floating insertion Zero suppression Replacement |
B 0 / ,
. cs + - CR DB cs + - Z * Z * + - cs |
| Alphanumeric | None | None |
| Alphanumeric-edited | Simple insertion | B 0 / |
| DBCS | Simple insertion | B |
| External floating-point | Special insertion | . |
| National | None | None |
| National-edited | Simple insertion | B 0 / |
Types of editing are described in the following sections: