Guardian Procedure Calls Reference Manual

Literal Descriptors
Literal descriptors are alphanumeric strings in either form:
nHc c c ... c
1 2 3 n
OR
dc c c ... c d
1 2 3 n
either an apostrophe (') or a quotation mark ("); the same character must be used for both the opening and
closing delimiters
d
any ASCII characterc
an unsigned nonzero integer constant specifying the number of characters in the string; n cannot exceed 255n
On input, a literal descriptor is treated as nX.
A literal edit descriptor causes the specified character string to be inserted in the current buffer
beginning at the current position. It advances the current position n characters.
In a quoted literal form, if the character string to be represented contains the same character that
is used as the delimiter, two consecutive characters are used to distinguish the data character from
the delimiter; for example:
Use:To represent:
'can''t' or "can't"can't
'"can''t"' or "can't""can't"
In the Hollerith constant form, the number of characters in the string (including blanks) must be
exactly equal to the number preceding the letter H. There are no delimiter characters, so the
characters are supplied exactly as they appear in the buffer; for example:
Use:To represent:
5Hcan'tcan't
Scale-Factor Descriptor (P)
The form of a scale-factor descriptor is:
nP
is an optionally signed integer in the range of -128 to 127.n
The value of the scale factor is zero at the beginning of execution of the FORMATDATA procedure.
Any scale-factor specification remains in effect until a subsequent scale specification is processed.
The scale factor applies to the D, E, F, and G edit descriptors, affecting them in this manner:
• On input, with D, E, F, and G edit descriptors (provided no exponent exists in the external
field), the scale-factor effect is that the externally represented number equals the internally
represented number multiplied by 10**n.
• On input, with D, E, F, and G edit descriptors, the scale factor has no effect if there is an
exponent in the external field.
• On output, with D and E edit descriptors, the mantissa of the quantity to be produced is
multiplied by 10**n, and the exponent is reduced by n.
• On output, with the F edit descriptor, the scale-factor effect is that the externally represented
number equals the internally represented number multiplied by 10**n.
• On output, with the G edit descriptor, the effect of the scale factor is suspended unless the
magnitude of the data to be processed is outside the range that permits the use of an F edit
descriptor. If the use of the E edit descriptor is required, the scale factor has the same effect
as with the E output processing.
Nonrepeatable Edit Descriptors 1553