FORMAT_STRING cell property, along
with their support in Atoti.
The official documentation for the formats can be found on the
Microsoft website.
Introduction
TheFORMAT_STRING cell property specifies how to format both string and raw numeric
values. The following tables detail the syntax and the available formatting
characters that can be used for the property.
Atoti uses the FORMAT_STRING cell property to format the VALUE, storing the
formatted value in the FORMATTED_VALUE cell property.
This behavior conforms to Microsoft’s specification regarding these properties.
On the client’s side, Atoti UI directly uses the formatted values from the
FORMATTED_VALUE cell property.
Excel behaves differently for measures and does the formatting on the client, ignoring
the FORMATTED_VALUE cell property.
This implies that:
- formats that are unsupported or partially supported may still be rendered correctly in Excel.
- custom formatters defined within Atoti will be ignored.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
 | fully supported |
 | partially supported |
 | not supported |
Numeric Formats
When designating a numeric formatter, the format string must be enclosed with eitherDOUBLE[] or INT[] (example: DOUBLE[#.###]).
DOUBLE and INT can be used interchangeably. They accept the same format strings and
produce the same results.
Sections
A user-defined format expression for numbers can have anywhere from one to four sections, separated by semicolons. If the format argument contains one of the named numeric formats, only one section is allowed.| Format | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
| One section | | The format expression applies to all values. |
| Two sections | | The first section applies to positive values and zeros, the second to negative values. |
| Three sections | | The first section applies to positive values, the second to negative values, and the third to zeros. |
| Four sections | | The first section applies to positive values, the second to negative values, the third to zeros, and the fourth to null values. |
Characters
The following table lists the characters that can appear in the format string for numeric formats.| Character | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
| None | | Displays the number without any formatting. |
| 0 | | Represents a digit placeholder that displays a digit or a zero ( If the number has a digit in the position where the zero appears in the format string, the formatted value displays the digit. Otherwise, the formatted value displays a zero in that position. If the number has fewer digits than there are zeros (on either side of the decimal) in the format string, the formatted value displays leading or trailing zeros. If the number has more digits to the right of the decimal separator than there are zeros to the right of the decimal separator in the format expression, the formatted value rounds the number to as many decimal places as there are zeros. If the number has more digits to the left of the decimal separator than there are zeros to the left of the decimal separator in the format expression, the formatted value displays the additional digits without modification. |
| # | | Represents a digit placeholder that displays a digit or nothing. If the expression has a digit in the position where the number sign ( The number sign ( |
| . | | Represents a decimal placeholder that determines how many digits are displayed to the left and right of the decimal separator. If the format expression contains only number sign ( The actual character used as a decimal placeholder in the formatted output depends on the number format recognized by the computer system. Note: In some locales, a comma is used as the decimal separator. |
| % | | Represents a percentage placeholder. The expression is multiplied by 100. The percent character ( |
| , | | Represents a thousand separator that separates thousands from hundreds within a number that has four or more places to the left of the decimal separator. Standard use of the thousand separator is specified if the format contains a thousand separator enclosed in digit placeholders ( Two adjacent thousand separators, or a thousand separator immediately to the left of the decimal separator (whether or not a decimal is specified), means “scale the number by dividing the number by 1000, rounding as required.” For example, you can use the format string “ The actual character used as the thousand separator in the formatted output depends on the number format recognized by the computer system. Note: In some locales, a period is used as the thousand separator. |
| : | | Represents a time separator that separates hours, minutes, and seconds when time values are formatted. Note: In some locales, other characters may be used as the time separator. The actual character used as the time separator in formatted output is determined by the system settings on the computer. |
| / | | Represents a date separator that separates the day, month, and year when date values are formatted. The actual character used as the date separator in formatted output is determined by the system settings on the computer. Note: In some locales, other characters may used as the date separator. |
| E- E+ e- e+ | | Represents scientific format. If the format expression contains at least one digit placeholder ( |
| - + $ () | | Displays a literal character. To display a character other than one of those listed, put a backslash ( |
| \ | | Displays the next character in the format string. To display a character that has special meaning as a literal character, put a backslash ( The date-formatting and time-formatting characters— The numeric-formatting characters— The string-formatting characters— |
| ”ABC” | | Displays the string inside the double quotation marks ( To include a string in format from within code, use Chr(34) to enclose the text. (The character code for a double quotation mark is 34.) |
Named Numeric Formats
The following table lists the predefined numeric format names.| Format name | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
General Number | | Displays the number with no thousand separator. |
Currency | | Displays the number with a thousand separator, if appropriate. Displays two digits to the right of the decimal separator. Output is based on system locale settings. |
Fixed | | Displays at least one digit to the left and two digits to the right of the decimal separator. |
Standard | | Displays the number with thousand separator, at least one digit to the left and two digits to the right of the decimal separator. |
Percent | | Displays the number multiplied by 100 with a percent sign (%) appended to the right. Always displays two digits to the right of the decimal separator. |
Scientific | | Uses standard scientific notation. |
Yes/No | | Displays No if the number is 0; otherwise, displays Yes. |
True/False | | Displays False if the number is 0; otherwise, displays True. |
On/Off | | Displays Off if the number is 0; otherwise, displays On. |
String formats
String formatting syntax is currently not supported in Atoti.Sections
| Format | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
| One section | | The format expression applies to all string values. |
| Two sections | | The first section applies to string data, whereas the second section applies to null values and zero-length strings (""). |
Characters
The following table lists the characters that can appear in the format string for string formats.| Character | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
@ | | Represents a character placeholder that displays a character or a space. If the string has a character in the position where the at sign (@) appears in the format string, the formatted string displays the character. Otherwise, the formatted string displays a space in that position. Placeholders are filled from right to left unless there is an exclamation point (!) in the format string. |
& | | Represents a character placeholder that displays a character or nothing. If the string has a character in the position where the ampersand (&) appears, the formatted string displays the character. Otherwise, the formatted string displays nothing. Placeholders are filled from right to left unless there is an exclamation point (!) in the format string. |
< | | Forces lowercase. The formatted string displays all characters in lowercase format. |
> | | Forces uppercase. The formatted string displays all characters in uppercase format. |
| ! | | Forces left-to-right fill of placeholders. (The default is to fill placeholders from right to left.) |
Date Formats
When defining a date formatter, the format string must be enclosed byDATE[]
(example: DATE[yyyy/q]).
Characters
The following table lists the characters that can appear in the format string for date and time formats.| Character | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
| : | | Represents a time separator that separates hours, minutes, and seconds when time values are formatted. The actual character used as the time separator in formatted output is determined by the system settings of the computer. Note: In some locales, other characters may used as the time separator. The separator is not localized in Atoti. |
| / | | Represents a date separator that separates the day, month, and year when date values are formatted. The actual character used as the date separator in formatted output is determined by the system settings of the computer. Note: In some locales, other characters may be used to represent the date separator. The separator is not localized in Atoti. |
| C | | Displays the date as Displays only date information if there is no fractional part to the date serial number. Displays only time information if there is no integer portion. |
| d | | Displays the day as a number without a leading zero (1–31). |
| dd | | Displays the day as a number with a leading zero (01–31). |
| ddd | | Displays the day as an abbreviation (Sun–Sat). |
| dddd | | Displays the day as a full name (Sunday–Saturday). |
| ddddd | | Displays the date as a complete date (including day, month, and year), formatted according to your system’s short date format setting. For Microsoft Windows, the default short date format is |
| dddddd | | Displays a date serial number as a complete date (including day, month, and year), formatted according to the long date setting recognized by the computer system. For Windows, the default long date format is |
| w | | Displays the day of the week as a number (1 for Sunday through 7 for Saturday). Displays the week of the year instead. |
| ww | | Displays the week of the year as a number (1–54). |
| m | | Displays the month as a number without a leading zero (1–12). If Use uppercase |
| mm | | Displays the month as a number with a leading zero (01–12). If Use uppercase |
| mmm | | Displays the month as an abbreviation (Jan–Dec). Use uppercase |
| mmmm | | Displays the month as a full month name (January–December). Use uppercase |
| q | | Displays the quarter of the year as a number (1–4). |
| y | | Displays the day of the year as a number (1–366). |
| yy | | Displays the year as a two-digit number (00–99). |
| yyyy | | Displays the year as a four-digit number (100–9999). |
| h | | Displays the hour as a number without leading zeros (0–23). |
| hh | | Displays the hour as a number with leading zeros (00–23). |
| n | | Displays the minute as a number without leading zeros (0–59). Use |
| nn | | Displays the minute as a number with leading zeros (00–59). Use |
| s | | Displays the second as a number without leading zeros (0–59). |
| ss | | Displays the second as a number with leading zeros (00–59). |
| t t t t t | | Displays a time as a complete time (including hour, minute, and second), formatted using the time separator defined by the time format recognized by the computer system. A leading zero is displayed if the leading zero option is selected, and the time is earlier than 10:00 in either the A.M. or the P.M. cycle. For example, 09:59. For Windows, the default time format is |
| AM/PM | | Displays an uppercase Note: Uses the 12-hour clock. |
| am/pm | | Displays a lowercase Note: Uses the 12-hour clock. |
| A/P | | Displays an uppercase Note: Uses the 12-hour clock. |
| a/p | | Displays a lowercase Note: Uses the 12-hour clock. |
| AMPM | | Displays the AM string literal as defined by the computer system with any hour from midnight until noon; displays the PM string literal as defined by the computer system with any hour from noon until midnight.
For Windows, the default format is Note: Uses the 12-hour clock. |
Named Date Formats
The following table lists the predefined date and time format names:| Format name | Supported | Description |
|---|---|---|
General Date | | Displays a date and/or time. For real numbers, displays a date and time, for example, 4/3/93 05:34 PM. If there is no fractional part, displays only a date, for example, 4/3/93. If there is no integer part, displays a time only, for example, 05:34 PM. The format of the date display is determined by your system settings. |
Long Date | | Displays a date according to your system’s long date format. |
Medium Date | | Displays a date using the medium date format appropriate for the language version of the host application. |
Short Date | | Displays a date using your system’s short date format. |
Long Time | | Displays a time using your system’s long time format; includes hours, minutes, and seconds. |
Medium Time | | Displays a time in the 12-hour format using hours and minutes and the AM/PM designator. |
Short Time | | Displays a time using the 24-hour format, for example, 17:45. |
Note about Usable Formats
Internally, a java.text.SimpleDateFormat is used, so its formatting syntax must be used instead of the standard MDX syntax. Using a format string that is incompatible withSimpleDateFormat’s expected syntax will
result in an exception in Atoti.
Example:DATE[yyyy/MM/dd]must be used to format dates asyear/month/day, even though months should be designated with a lowercasemmaccording to the MDX formatting standard.
Array Formats
When defining an array formatter, the format string must be enclosed byARRAY[]
(example: ARRAY['|';:10;DOUBLE[#.#]]).
Sections
A user-defined format expression for arrays can have anywhere from zero to three sections, separated by semicolons.- No section: the default separator is the comma, all the elements are displayed based on their toString method.
- One section: the section defines the separator between the elements surrounded by single quotes, e.g. ’|’ or ’ - ’.
- Two sections: the first section is for the separator, the second for the slice of elements to be displayed.
The slice can be a single element, e.g
10, the first 5 elements:5, the elements starting from the 5th5:, or a range5:10. If not specified, the default is:which means all the elements. - Three sections: the first section is for the separator, the second for the slice of elements to be displayed, and the third for the
formatter of each element. It could be
DATE[yyyy/MM/dd]for an array of dates, orDOUBLE[#.#]for an array of doubles, or even a custom formatter.
Custom Formatters
Custom formatters can be added to Atoti by implementing theIFormatter interface.
They can be useful to format Java objects that do not have formatting support by default
in Atoti, or to accept a different syntax than the one specified by the MDX
standard.
If the custom formatter needs to be configured with a pattern string, it should implement
IPatternFormatter rather than IFormatter. Similarly, the formatter can be provided
the current Locale if it extends ALocalizable.
In this case, the formatter should have a constructor with signature
Constructor([Locale], [String]), depending on whether it extends ALocalizable and/or
IFormatter.
Once registered as a plugin value in the registry, the custom formatter can be used by
specifying its plugin key while defining a formatter (example: PLUGIN_KEY or
PLUGIN_KEY[pattern], for a custom formatter whose plugin key is PLUGIN_KEY).