Formatting data in Excel

All of the tools I have created to send data directly to Excel from Pronto share the same library of routines. Whether you create a 4GL report fully using GHOSTWRITER, use my Excel include files with your own 4GL program, or use SQL/Output to transform the data from a Pronto SQL query, in each case you are able to exercise a great deal of control over how the data is shown in an Excel cell.


For example, for a numeric field here is how the values -1234.56, zero and 1234.56 would be shown using several different format specifications:

Format	-1234.56	zero	1234.56
----------	----------	----------	----------
-(6)9.99	-1234.56	0.00	1234.56
-(6)zvzz	-1234.56		1234.56
-(6)9	-1235	0	1235
-(6)z	-1235		1235
-$(5)9.99	-$1234.56	$0.00	$1234.56
---,--9.99	-1,234.56	0.00	1,234.56
-$$$,$$9.99	-$1,234.56	$0.00	$1,234.56

Here are some different ways to display a date field:

Format	Date
----------	----------
dd-mm-yy	30-11-09
dd mmm yyyy	30 Nov 2009
ddd, dd mmm yyyy	Mon, 30 Nov 2009

As you can see, as a user you are fully in control of the Excel cell formatting with our Excel tools.