Changing the Format of a Report Column

A field's format is defined in the Master File. You can, however, change the format of a report column. Column titles in a report can be left justified, right justified, or centered. By default, column titles for alphanumeric fields are left justified, and column titles for numeric and date fields are right justified.

The UNIT_PRICE field has a format of D7.2 as defined in the GGPRODS Master File. To add a floating dollar sign to the display, the field format can be redefined as follows:

The following request illustrates column title justification with a format specification, a BY field specification, and an AS phrase specification:

Reference: Usage Notes for Changing Column Format

Each time you reformat a column, the field is counted twice against the limit for display fields in a single report.
If you create an extract file from the report, that is, a HOLD, PCHOLD, SAVE, or SAVB file, the extract file contains fields for both the original format and the redefined format, unless HOLDLIST=PRINTONLY. Extract files are described in Saving and Reusing Your Report Output.
Format redefinition may not be used on a field in a BY or ACROSS phrase or with SUM CNT.fieldname.
When the size of a word in a text field instance is greater than the format of the text field in the Master File, the word wraps to a second line, and the next word begins on the same line.
You may specify justification for display fields, BY fields, and ACROSS fields. For ACROSS fields, data values, not column titles, are justified as specified.
For display commands only, the justification parameter may be combined with a format specification. The format specification may precede or follow the justification parameter.
If a title is specified with an AS phrase or in the Master File, that title is justified as specified in FORMAT.
When multiple ACROSS fields are requested, justification is performed on the lowest ACROSS level only. All other justification parameters for ACROSS fields are ignored.

Determining the Width of a Report Column

In this section:

Controlling Missing Values for a Reformatted Field

The width of a report column is set to the width of the column title, or the corresponding field display length, whichever is wider. You can change the width by reformatting the column or editing the title.

For example, the LAST_NAME field is defined with a format of A15 in the Master File, while its field name is only nine characters wide, so the LAST_NAME column in a report will be 15 characters wide.

Furthermore, two spaces are placed between columns on the printed report unless the report width is too wide, in which case one space is inserted between columns. If the report is still too wide, it needs to be paneled.

Note: The default spacing can be overridden by using IN or OVER. You can also use SET SPACES to control column spacing. For more information, see Customizing Tabular Reports.

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Controlling Missing Values for a Reformatted Field

When a field is reformatted in a request (for example, SUM field/format), an internal COMPUTE field is created to contain the reformatted field value and display on the report output. If the original field has a missing value, that missing value can be propagated to the internal field by setting the COMPMISS parameter ON. If the missing value is not propagated to the internal field, it displays a zero (if it is numeric) or a blank (if it is alphanumeric). If the missing value is propagated to the internal field, it displays the missing data symbol on the report output.

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Syntax: How to Control Missing Values in Reformatted Fields

SET COMPMISS = {ON|OFF}

where:

ON: Propagates a missing value to a reformatted field. ON is the default value.
OFF: Displays a blank or zero for a reformatted field.

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Example: Controlling Missing Values in Reformatted Fields

The following procedure prints the RETURNS field from the SALES data source for store 14Z. With COMPMISS OFF, the missing values display as zeros in the column for the reformatted field value. (Note: Before trying this example, you must make sure that the SALEMISS procedure, which adds missing values to the SALES data source, has been run.)

SET COMPMISS = OFF         
TABLE FILE SALES        
PRINT RETURNS RETURNS/D12.2 AS 'REFORMATTED,RETURNS'
BY STORE_CODE              
WHERE STORE_CODE EQ '14Z' 
END

The output is:

                        REFORMATTED
STORE_CODE  RETURNS     RETURNS    
----------  -------     -----------
14Z               2            2.00
                  2            2.00
                  0             .00
                  .             .00
                  4            4.00
                  0             .00
                  3            3.00
                  4            4.00
                  .             .00
                  4            4.00

With COMPMISS ON, the column for the reformatted version of RETURNS displays the missing data symbol when a value is missing:

SET COMPMISS = ON         
TABLE FILE SALES        
PRINT RETURNS RETURNS/D12.2 AS 'REFORMATTED,RETURNS'
BY STORE_CODE              
WHERE STORE_CODE EQ '14Z'  
END

The output is:

                        REFORMATTED 
STORE_CODE  RETURNS     RETURNS     
----------  -------     ----------- 
14Z               2            2.00 
                  2            2.00 
                  0             .00 
                  .               . 
                  4            4.00 
                  0             .00 
                  3            3.00 
                  4            4.00 
                  .               . 
                  4            4.00

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Reference: Usage Notes for SET COMPMISS

If you create a HOLD file with COMPMISS ON, the HOLD Master File for the reformatted field indicates MISSING = ON (as does the original field). With COMPMISS = OFF, the reformatted field does NOT have MISSING = ON in the generated Master File.
The COMPMISS parameter cannot be set in an ON TABLE command.