From: Bruce Ballehr To: All

I'm trying to define a field so it can be either positive or negative. If negative, the sign would be on the right of the number. This is an input/output field. I define the field as six bytes, three decimals, both input and output, with an edit code of L. My desire is for the user to be able to type, for example, 5.0, then press the minus field exit key to result in the field looking like 5.000-.

The problem is the minus sign does not display; the hexadecimal letter for a negative zero displays instead. If I move this field to a field defined exactly as this but output only, it displays as 5.000-. What am I doing wrong?

From: Dave Shaw To: Bruce Ballehr

That's the way it works. If you redisplay the field, it will appear as you want it. This is the way field minus has always worked on the S/38 and AS/400.

There is an alternative. If, instead of using field minus, you use a dash (the - key next to the 0 in the alphanumeric section of your keyboard), and then a field exit, it will look the way you want it to and be read by the system as a negative. I wish I had a better answer for you, but this is about the best that can be done given the limitations IBM currently has in place.