Format Functions

You can use the following format functions to specify how data should be formatted for a download or upload.

Concatenating Values

To concatenate several fields to create one value, you must tag the fields by entering the letter C followed by same number (for example, C1) in the Format field of all detail records for the fields you want to combine.

For example, to create a string that includes First Name <space> Last Name, you would define:

• • First Name - Format: C1
  • Dummy - Format: C1,' ' (single space between single quotation marks)
  • Last Name- Format: C1

Changing Case

To change the case of a field to lowercase, enter the < symbol in the Format field. For example, SMITH would convert to smith.

To change the case of a field to uppercase, enter the > symbol in the format field. For example, James would convert to JAMES.

Formatting Dates

If you do not specify a format, a date is downloaded in the default format MM/DD/YYYY, for example, 12/14/2015.
To define a format, use the following letters:

• • M - Month
    MM displays the month as a number. MMM displays the month's abbreviation. MMMM displays the month's full name.
  • D - Day
    DD displays the numeric day of the month. DDD displays the abbreviation of the day of the week. DDDD displays the full name of the day of the week.
  • Y - Year
    YY displays the last two digits of the year. YYYY displays the full four-digit year.

Examples:

MM/DD/YY downloads a date as 12/14/15.

DDD MMM DD YYYY downloads a date as Mon Dec 14 2015.

Formatting Numbers

Following are the keywords you can enter in the Format field to format numeric fields:

• • fixed
    Displays numbers with at least one digit to the left and two digits to the right of the decimal separator, for example, 1.00 and 1000.00.
  • standard
    Displays numbers with thousand separator, at least one digit to the left and two digits to the right of the decimal separator, for example, 1.00 and 1,000.00.
  • percent
    Displays numbers multiplied by 100 with a percentage sign (%) appended immediately to the right; always displays two digits to the right of the decimal separator.

You also can limit the number of digits to include after the decimal separator. For example, if you want to include only 3 digits following the decimal separator for a field that stores 4 digits after the decimal, enter ##.### in the Format field.

If you do not specify a format:

• • Numbers are displayed without the thousand separator.
  • Decimal points are only included where one or more digits are stored after the decimal separator.

Formatting the Phone Number

The phone number for contacts is stored as a 10-digit number including the area code. You may need to download the phone number including the parentheses and the dash or without the area code.

• • To format the phone number with parentheses and a dash, enter (###)###-#### in the Format field.
  • To download the phone number without the area code, leave the Format field blank and enter 4 in the Database Field Start Position and 10 in the Database Field End Position.

Justifying Text

By default, information processed in uploads and downloads is left justified. To right justify a value, enter the @ (at) symbol in the Format field.

For example, to right justify a field that contains a maximum of 8 characters, enter the @ symbol 8 times in the Format field: @@@@@@@@.

Returning Next Available List Sequence for Upload

You can upload data to a district-defined page that stores data as a list, but the upload needs to calculate the List Sequence number for inserting a record. The upload calculates the sequence number by finding the maximum list sequence number that has been used for the student on the page and then incrementing this number by 1.

To define the interface to insert into a list screen, enter the keyword MAX in the Format field for the detail record for the List Sequence field. The MAX keyword only works if the upload file includes one row per student and the interface has a unique header for each field you want to upload.

Zero-Filling Values

To zero-fill, enter the number of zeros to fill. For example, to zero-fill up to 5 characters, enter 00000. In this case, the value 21 will be downloaded as 00021.