| Navigation: Language Reference > 3 - Variable Declarations > Picture Tokens >====== Key-in Template Pictures ====== |    |
@K[@][#][<;][x][\][?][^][_][|]K[B]
| @K | All key-in template pictures begin with the @K delimiter and end with the K delimiter. The case of the delimiters must be the same. | ||
| @ | Specifies only uppercase and lowercase alphabetic characters. | ||
| # | Specifies an integer 0 through 9. | ||
| <; | Specifies an integer that is blank for high order zeros. | ||
| x | Represents optional constant display characters (any displayable character). These characters appear in the final result string. | ||
| \ | Indicates the following character is a display character. This allows you to include any of the picture formatting characters (@,#,<;,\,?, | ,_, | ) within the string as a display character. |
|---|---|---|---|
| ? | Specifies any character may be placed in this position. | ||
| ^ | Specifies only uppercase alphabetic characters in this position. | ||
| _ | Underscore specifies only lowercase alphabetic characters in this position. | ||
| | | Allows the operator to “stop here” if there are no more characters to input. Only the data entered and any display characters up to that point will be in the string result. | ||
| K | All key-in template pictures must end with K. If a lower case @k delimiter is used, the ending K delimiter must also be lower case. | ||
| B | Specifies that the format displays as blank when the value is zero. |
Key-in pictures may contain integer positions ( # <; ), alphabet character positions ( @ ^ _ ), any character positions ( ? ), and display characters. Any character other than a formatting indicator is considered a display character, which appears in the formatted picture string. The @K and K delimiters are case sensitive. Therefore, an upper case “K” may be included as a display character if the delimiters are both lower case “k” and vice versa. The maximum length is 255.
@K pictures can use any displayable Unicode characters.
Key-in pictures are used specifically with STRING, PSTRING, and CSTRING fields to allow custom field editing control and validation. Using a key-in picture containing any of the alphabet indicators ( @ ^ _ ) on a numeric entry field produces unpredictable results.
Using the Insert typing mode for a key-in picture could produce unpredictable results. Therefore, key-in pictures always receive data entry in Overwrite mode, even if the INS attribute is present.
Example:
Picture Value Entered Result String
@K###-##-####K 215846377 215-84-6377
@K#####|-####K 33064 33064
@K#####|-####K 330643597 33064-3597
@K<;# ^^^ ##K 10AUG59 10 AUG 59
@K(###)@@@-##\@##K 305abc4555 (305)abc-45@55
@K###/?##-####K 7854555 000/785-4555
@k<;#:##^Mk 530P 5:30PM
@K<;#' <;#“K 506 5' 6”
@K4#_#A-#K 1g12 41g1A-2