Chapter Contents

Previous

Next
PDw.d

PDw.d



Reads data that are stored in IBM packed decimal format

Numeric
Width range: 1-16 bytes
Default width: 1
Decimal range: 0-31
OS/390 specifics: IBM packed decimal format


Details
See Also


Details

The w value specifies the number of bytes, not the number of digits. If the informat specification includes a d value, the number is divided by 10d.

In packed decimal format, each byte except for the last byte represents two decimal digits. (The last byte represents one digit and the sign.) An IBM packed decimal number consists of a sign and up to 31 digits, thus giving a range from -1031 + 1 to 1031 - 1. The sign is written in the rightmost nibble. (A nibble is 4 bits or half a byte.) A hexadecimal C indicates a plus sign, and a hexadecimal D indicates a minus sign. The rest of the nibbles to the left of the sign nibble represent decimal digits. The hexadecimal values of these digit nibbles correspond to decimal values; therefore, only values between '0'x and '9'x can be used in the digit positions.

Here are several examples of how data is read using the PDw.d informat:

Data Line (Hex) Informat Value Notes
01234D pd3. -1234
0123400C pd4.2 1234 the d value of 2 causes the number to be divided by 102

Note:   In these examples, Data Line (Hex) represents the bit pattern stored, which is the value you see if you view it in a text editor that displays values in hexadecimal representation. Value is the number that is used by SAS after the data pattern has been read using the corresponding informat.  [cautionend]

See Also


Chapter Contents

Previous

Next

Top of Page

Copyright 1999 by SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. All rights reserved.