This appendix contains the symbols and formats that you can use to create application-wide named masks called input masks and local input masks for a particular field. Masks control user input. Format specification controls how a value is formatted for display and a mask sets a style to input values. This appendix talks about the different types of masks used to input data.

Masks are used to provide a format to input data. A mask is defined by a character string and uses two principles. First, there is no format and the mask automatically formats the data displayed. Second, missing characters are replaced by default characters. There are predefined masks for date and time.

This appendix describes the syntax of format specifications and their specific meaning.

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