# Forms for Control Edit Descriptors

A control edit descriptor takes one of the following forms:

c

cn

nc

c | Is one of the following format codes: T, TL, TR, X, S, SP, SS, BN, BZ, P, RU, RD, RZ, RN, RC, RP, DC, DP, :, /, \, $, and Q.
n | Is a number of character positions. It must be a positive integer literal constant or a variable format expression. No kind parameter can be specified. It cannot be a named constant. The range of n is 1 through 2147483647 (2**31-1) on Intel® 64 architecture; 1 through 32767 (2**15-1) on IA-32 architecture. Actual useful ranges may be constrained by record sizes (RECL) and the file system.

## Description

In general, control edit descriptors are nonrepeatable. The only exception is the slash (/) edit descriptor, which can be preceded by a repeat specification or a * indicating an unlimited repeat count.

The control edit descriptors have the following specific forms:

Positional: | Tn, TLn, TRn, and nX
Sign: | S, SP, and SS
Blank interpretation: | BN and BZ
Rounding mode: | RU, RD, RZ, RN, RC, and RP
Decimal mode: | DC and DP
Scale factor: | kP
Miscellaneous: | :, /, \, $, and Q

The P edit descriptor is an exception to the general control edit descriptor syntax. It is preceded by a scale factor, rather than a character position specifier.

Control edit descriptors can be grouped in parentheses and preceded by a group repeat specification.

Parent topic: Control Edit Descriptors

## See Also

Group repeat specifications
Format Specifications