Alternative input formats |
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In an application that accepts and displays certain date values as (for example) DD-MON-YYYY (e.g., 01-JAN-2008), it is possible to specify that end users can input values not only in that standard IO format but also in one or more alternative input formats, e.g. DD-MM-YYYY (01-01-2008). The alternative input format(s) are used only at data entry time, i.e., as an input format. Once accepted, the data is always displayed using the standard IO format (the output format). Input data is first read using the standard IO format. If there is no match, alternative input formats are used. If more than one alternative input format is defined, then alternative input formats with a lower sequence number take precedence in the matching process. The alternative input formats, and their associated sequence (or position) number are specified on the IO Format tab page of the domains window. Alternative input formats are propagated to the Windows Designer Alternative Input Formats property in the same way as the standard IO format is propagated to the Windows Designer IO Format property. The Windows Designer enables developers to overwrite both the standard IO format and the alternative input format(s) by local settings at GUI level. Alternative Input formats can be used for IO formats for date and time values, and also for numeric and alphanumeric data.
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