View source for F$FAO()

'''F$FAO()''' converts character and numeric input to ASCII character strings. FAO stands for "formatted ASCII output".

=Format=

F$FAO (control-string[,argument[,...]])

'''Control strings''' tell the system what the resulting string should look like. The full list of control strings is presented below.<br>
Arguments (optional) are variables whose values to be used for the control string directives.

=Full list of control strings=

==Character string insertion==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Directive  !! Value !! Description
|-
| !AS|| String|| Inserts a character string as is: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("Welcome back, !AS","John")
Welcome back, John</pre>
|}

==Zero-filled numeric conversion==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Directive  !! Value !! Description
|-
| !OB|| Integer|| Converts a byte to octal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!OB",9)
011</pre>
|-
| !OW|| Integer|| Converts a word to octal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!OW",9)
000011</pre>
|-
| !OL|| Integer|| Converts a longword to octal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!OL",9)
00000000011</pre>
|-
| !XB|| Integer|| Converts a byte to hexadecimal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!XB",15)
0F</pre>
|-
| !XW|| Integer|| Converts a word to hexadecimal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!XW",15)
000F</pre>
|-
| !XL|| Integer|| Converts a longword to hexadecimal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!XL",15)
0000000F</pre>
|-
| !ZB|| Integer|| Converts a byte to decimal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!ZB",100)
100
$ write sys$output f$fao("!ZB",257)
1</pre>
|-
| !ZW|| Integer|| Converts a word to decimal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!ZW",257)
257
$ write sys$output f$fao("!ZW",65536)
0</pre>
|-
| !ZL|| Integer|| Converts a longword to decimal notation: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!ZL",4294967296)
0</pre>
|}

==Blank-filled numeric conversion==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Directive  !! Value !! Description
|-
| !UB || Integer || Converts a byte to decimal notation without adjusting for negative numbers: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!UB",255)
255
$ write sys$output f$fao("!UB",256)
0
$ write sys$output f$fao("!UB",-1)
255</pre>
|-
|!UW||Integer||Converts a word to decimal notation without adjusting for negative numbers: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!UW",-1)
65535
$ write sys$output f$fao("!UW",65536)
0</pre>
|-
|!UL||Integer||Converts a longword to decimal notation without adjusting for negative numbers: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!UL",4294967296)
0
$ write sys$output f$fao("!UL",-1)
4294967295</pre>
|-
|!SB||Integer||Converts a byte to decimal notation with negative numbers converted properly: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!SB",-1)
-1
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SB",256)
0
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SB",127)
127
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SB",128)
-128</pre>
|-
|!SW||Integer||Converts a word to decimal notation with negative numbers converted properly: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!SW",32000)
32000
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SW",-32000)
-32000
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SW",64000)
-1536
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SW",65537)
1</pre>
|-
|!SL||Integer||Converts a longword to decimal notation with negative numbers converted properly: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!SL",65537)
65537
$ write sys$output f$fao("!SL",4294967294)
-2</pre>
|}

==Special formatting==


{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Directive  !! Value !! Description
|-
|!/||None||Inserts a carriage return and a line feed: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("Hello!/Goodbye")
Hello
Goodbye</pre>
|-
|!_||None||Inserts a tab: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("Hello!_Goodbye")
Hello   Goodbye</pre>
|-
|!^||None||Inserts a form feed: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("Hello!^Goodbye")
Hello















Goodbye</pre>
|-
|!!||None||Inserts an exclamation point (!): <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("Hello!!")
Hello!
$ write sys$output f$fao("Hello!")
%SYSTEM-F-BADPARAM, bad parameter value
 \Hello!\</pre>
|-
|!%I (as in Irene) ||Integer||Converts a longword integer to a named UIC in the format [group-identifier,member-identifier].|
<pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!%I",65540)
[SYSTEM]</pre>
|-
|!%S||None||Inserts an "s" if the most recently converted number is not 1. (Not recommended for use with multilingual products.)|
<pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("I have !SL apple!%S",5)
I have 5 apples
$ write sys$output f$fao("I have !SL apple!%S",1)
I have 1 apple</pre>
|-
|!%U||Integer||Converts a longword integer to a numeric UIC in the format [g,m], where g is the group number and m is the member number. The directive inserts the brackets and the comma.|
<pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!%U",65540)
[1,4]]</pre>
|-
|!nx||None||Left-justifies and blank-fills all data represented by x in a field of n characters wide.|
<pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!10SL",5)
         5</pre>
|-
|!n* c||None||Repeats the character represented by c for n times.|
<pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("!5*a")
aaaaa</pre>
|-
|!n%C||String|| Inserts a character string when the most recently evaluated argument has the value n. (Recommended for use with multilingual products.) <pre>REPORT = F$FAO("There !0UL!1%Cis!%Eare!%F !-!UL !-!0UL!1%Cchild!%Echildren!%F here",OFFSPRING)</pre>
|-
|!%E||String||Inserts a character string when the value of the most recently evaluated argument does not match any preceding !n%C directives. (Recommended for use with multilingual products.) <pre>REPORT = F$FAO("There !0UL!1%Cis!%Eare!%F !-!UL !-!0UL!1%Cchild!%Echildren!%F here",OFFSPRING)</pre>
|-
|!%F||None||Marks the end of a plurals statement. <pre>REPORT = F$FAO("There !0UL!1%Cis!%Eare!%F !-!UL !-!0UL!1%Cchild!%Echildren!%F here",OFFSPRING)</pre>
|-
|!%T||0||Inserts the current time: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("It's !%T",0)
It's 12:54:00.68</pre>
|-
|!%D||0||Inserts the current date/time: <pre>$ write sys$output f$fao("It's !%D",0)
It's 16-AUG-2018 12:54:08.98</pre>
|}

=See also=
* [[Quick guide to F$FAO()]]