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Format items |
Format items are a means of inserting data into a literal string. They have a wide variety of uses:
Format items can be divided into two classes based on their syntax:
The syntax of a static format item is as follows:
escape
character; by default, "%".
Static format items are
%16r{0D, 0A}
.
macro
expansion.
The format items that represent white space ("t", "n", "_") can take an "s" format modifier, which indicates that
white-space stripping can be applied to the character.
process output "First line%sn" output "%snSecond line %sn"
Dynamic format items are generally used with the format operator, as in:
escape
character; by default, "%"
Note that format items do not accept expressions or literal strings. To format the result of an expression, use the format item in quotes, the %
operator, followed by the expression or quoted string.
Literal string example:
; pad-quote-string.xom ; "8fg" pads the quoted string "foo" with spaces to a width of 8 process output "8fg" % "foo" || "END" ; Output: "foo END"
Two kinds of format strings are supported, format instructions and templates. A format instruction consists of a format command preceded by one or more format modifiers. A template consists of "<", a set of template characters, and ">".
The example format.xom uses format instructions:
; format.xom import "ombcd.xmd" unprefixed process local bcd foo initial {233.33} local stream bar initial {"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves"} output "Foo padded to right to 8 digits: [" || "8fd" % foo || "]%n" output "Bar uppercased: " || "ug" % bar || "%n" ; Output: Foo padded to right to 8 digits: [233.33 ] ; Bar uppercased: 'TWAS BRILLIG AND THE SLITHY TOVES
In format.xom, we have two format instructions:
"8fd" % foo
, in which "8f" is the format modifier, "d" is the format command, and "%" is the dynamic format item.
"ug" % bar
, in which "u" is the format modifier, "g" is the format command, and "%" is the dynamic format item.
At the end of the line containing each of the two format instructions, there is also a static format item, "%n", to insert a newline character.
The format string varies according to the type of the variable.
To format the values of specific data types using dynamic format items, see:
The format commands used in dynamic format items, and the types they are used with, are:
macro
arguments
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