Guardian Procedure Calls Reference Manual

The Z Edit Descriptor
The Z edit descriptor is used to display or interpret data values in hexadecimal (base 16) integer
form.
The Z edit descriptor has these forms:
Zw.mORZw
an unsigned integer constant that defines the total field width and cannot exceed 255. The field processed is
the w characters starting at the current position. After the field is processed, the current position is advanced
by w characters
w
an unsigned integer constant that defines the number of digits that must be present on outputm
The Z edit descriptor is used in the same manner as the I edit descriptor where the number base
(b) is 16, except that the Z edit descriptor always treats the internal data value as unsigned. (See
The I Edit Descriptor (page 1560).) For example, if the data item is an INT(16) in TAL, these conversions
take place:
ResultInternal ValueFormat
| 14|20Z6
|00001A|26Z6.6
| FFFD|-3Z6.2
The "|" character is used to denote the boundaries of the output field.
Modifiers
Modifiers alter the normal effect of edit descriptors. Modifiers immediately precede the edit descriptor
to which they apply. If modifiers immediately precede the left parenthesis of a group, the modifiers
apply to each repeatable edit descriptor within the group. They are enclosed in brackets, and if
more than one is present, they are separated by commas.
NOTE: Modifiers are effective only on output. If they are supplied for input, they have no effect.
Field-Blanking Modifiers (BN, BZ)
There are two modifiers for blanking fields:
blank field if null.BN
blank field if equal to zero.BZ
Although most edit descriptors cause a minimum number of characters to be output, a field-blanking
modifier causes the entire field to be filled with spaces if the specified condition is met. The null
value is the value addressed by the nullptr in the variablelist entry for the current data
element.
Fill-Character Modifier (FL)
When an alphanumeric data element contains fewer characters than the field width specified by
an Aw edit descriptor, when leading or trailing zero suppression is performed, or when embedded
text in an M edit descriptor is not output because its neighboring digits are not output, a fill character
is inserted in each appropriate character position in the output field. The fill character is normally
a space, but the fill-character modifier can be used to specify any other character for this purpose.
Modifiers 1565