When Suprtool formats numbers for Output,ASCII, it follows a simple rule: it right-justifies the number in a field that is big enough to hold the field's largest possible value, and it appends a trailing sign. For example, a J2 binary number with a value of 1,000 will be output as ^^^^^^1000^, and a minus 1,000 will be output as ^^^^^^1000- (where ^ represents a space). The number is always right-justified with leading spaces, and the sign is always trailing.
STExport gives you more control. The Sign command specifies the position of the sign, and the Zero command specifies whether a field is filled with zeros. Suprtool still determines the size of the output field based on the data-type of the input field.
Example: You want to produce the same effect as Output,ASCII, except that you want the numbers to have leading zeros instead of leading spaces. Suprtool's Output,ASCII for the J1 and J2 fields looks like this:
> output myfile,ascii
> xeq
10020 19951004 22415 10003 19951016 11207 10003 19951016 16600- 10003 19951016 21910 10016 19951020 8411 10016 19951020 15942 10020 19951028 16713- 10010 19951020 7970In Suprtool, instead of Output,ASCII use Output,Link. Then format the resulting link file with the following STExport commands:
> output foo,link,temp
> xeq
> export input foo
> export columns fixed
> export date none
> export delimiter none
> export quote none
> export sign trailing
> export zero leading
> export output myfile
> export xeq
00010020 0019951004 0000022415 00010003 0019951016 0000011207 00010003 0019951016 0000016600- 00010003 0019951016 0000021910 00010016 0019951020 0000008411 00010003 0019951020 0000015942 00010020 0019951028 0000016713- 00010010 0019951020 0000007970
Most of the STExport commands shown above are to override STExport's
default action of producing a variable-length, comma-delimited file that is
formatted for a PC program, such as Microsoft Access or Lotus 1-2-3. Zero
Leading is the command for filling numeric fields with leading zeros. The
space seen between the fields is really the trailing sign of the preceding
number.
[Mike Shumko]