Cast Operators

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Description
2. Examples

Description

Cast Operators are used to override the data type of a column, or the data type of an LR field.

The following keywords are valid:

<ALPHA>
<BINARY>
<BCD>
<EDITED>
<MASKED>
<NODTF>
<PACKED>
<SBINARY>
<SPACKED>
<ZONED>

They define the data type you wish to change the column or LR field to.

The <NODTF> cast operator is a special case. By prefixing the column or field with the <NODTF> cast operator, the Date/Time Format can be removed.

The <NODTF> cast operator can be used in conjunction with Data Type cast operators; for example:

<NODTF><BCD>COLUMN = {BCD_NONDATE_FIELD}

For more information and examples see Assignment and Comparison Rules

Examples

1. In this example the column and the field discount bothe have a data type of packed. If the column is not cast to alpha an error will be flagged because you would be trying to assign an alphanumeric constant to a packed column.

   IF {discount} = 0 THEN
       <ALPHA>COLUMN = “ “
   ELSE
       COLUMN = {discount}
   ENDIF

2. If a column is defined with a Date/Time Format, it can be removed as follows:
   <NODTF>COLUMN = {NONDATE_FIELD}