Print — Mask


Asterisk

The “*” (asterisk) is used as a placeholder for a field value. It is used in two ways:

  • caption — for break subtotals. The break field value will print to the left on the same line as the subtotals.

QUIZ-095

The caption here is “CUS:” with a space and the asterisk. The caption prints to the left of the subtotal. The customer name replaces the asterisk:

QUIZ-096

(See also: Print — Break)

  • mask — (or its synonym using), used with concatenation or combining fields to print several fields in a single column:

QUIZ-098

Here we are printing the customer name, city, state and zip. The city field has a mask. The city will print with the city value followed by a comma and a space. By using the asterisk, the printing of the field becomes conditional. If the city is blank, the comma doesn’t print.

QUIZ-099

The first line above has no city and no comma. (See also: Print — Combining Fields)

 

Page 1 — mask
Page 2 — the asterisk
Page 3 — numeric masks
Page 4 — decimal masks
Page 5 — date mask

Next – Numeric mask >

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