Appendix C. Number Format in Java Programming Language
The following section describes the format of the number used in the Java Programming Language. This format can be used for attributes of Number type – see Setting Properties of Number Attributes.
The string representing the number format has the following form:
positive-pattern[;negative-pattern]
If the negative pattern is omitted, negative numbers are formatted using the positive pattern with a “-“ character prepended to the result. Each pattern has the following form:
[prefix]integer[.fraction][suffix]
The following symbols are significant in the pattern string.
| Symbol | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | A digit |
| # | A digit where 0 is not shown |
| . | A placeholder for a decimal separator |
| , | A placeholder for a grouping separator |
| ; | The format separator |
| - | The default negative prefix |
| % | Multiplies value by 100 and shows as a percentage |
Any characters other than these special characters can appear in the prefix or the suffix. A single quote can be used to escape a special character, if you need to use one of these symbols in a prefix or a suffix.
For example, the pattern string for U.S. currency values is:
$#,##0.00;($#,##0.00)
This indicates that a $ character is prepended to all formatted values. The grouping separator character , is inserted every three digits. Exactly two digits after the decimal place are always shown. Negative values are shown in parentheses. Thus, the value -1234.56 produces output like:
($1,234.56)