Determines how a numeric field's value is formatted for display in a
data-aware control.
| 0 | Digit placeholder. If the value being formatted has a digit in the position where "0" appears in the format string, then that digit is copied to the output string. Otherwise, "0" is stored in that position in the output string. |
| # | Digit placeholder. If the value being formatted has a digit in the position where "#" appears in the format string, then that digit is copied to the output string. Otherwise, nothing is stored in that position in the output string. |
| . | Decimal point. The first "." character in the format string determines the location of the decimal separator in the formatted value; any additional "." characters are ignored. The actual character used as a the decimal separator in the output string is determined by the DecimalSeparator global variable. The default value of DecimalSeparator is specified in the Number Format of the Regional Settings section of the Windows Control Panel. |
| , | Thousand separator. If the format string contains one or more "," characters, the output will have thousand separators inserted between each group of three digits to the left of the decimal point. The placement and number of "," characters in the format string does not affect the output, except to indicate that thousand separators are wanted. The actual character used as the thousand separator in the output is determined by the ThousandSeparator global variable. The default value of ThousandSeparator is specified in the Number Format of the Regional Settings section of the Windows Control Panel. |
| Е+ | Scientific notation. If any of the strings "E+", "E-", "e+", or "e-" are contained in the format string, the number is formatted using scientific notation. A group of up to four "0" characters can immediately follow the "E+", "E-", "e+", or "e-" to determine the minimum number of digits in the exponent. The "E+" and "e+" formats cause a plus sign to be output for positive exponents and a minus sign to be output for negative exponents. The "E-" and "e-" formats output a sign character only for negative exponents. |
| 'xx'/''x" | Characters enclosed in single or double quotation marks are output as such, and do not affect formatting. |
| ; | Separates sections for positive, negative, and zero numbers in the format string. |
The locations of the leftmost "0" before the decimal point in the
format string and the rightmost "0" after the decimal point in the
format string determine the range of digits that are always present in
the output string.
The number being formatted is always rounded to as many decimal places
as there are digit placeholders ("0" or "#") to the right of
the decimal point. If the format string contains no decimal point, the
value being formatted is rounded to the nearest whole number.
If the number being formatted has more digits to the left of the decimal
separator than there are digit placeholders to the left of the "."
character in the format string, the extra digits are output before the
first digit placeholder.
The following table shows the effect of various format strings:
| DisplayFormat | Value | Result |
|---|---|---|
| #.## | 12.2 | 12.2 |
| #.00 | 2.5 | 2.50 |
| 00.## | .006 | 00.01 |
To allow different formats for positive, negative, and zero values, the
format string can contain between one and three sections separated by
semicolon ";".
If the section for negative values or the section for zero values is
empty, that is, if there is nothing between the semicolons that delimit
the section, the section for positive values is used instead.
If the section for positive values is empty, or if the entire format
string is empty, the value is formatted using general floating-point
formatting with 15 significant digits.
| c | The date using the format given by the ShortDateFormat global variable, followed by the time using the format given by the LongTimeFormat global variable. The time is not displayed if the fractional part of the DateTime value is zero. |
| d | The day as a number without a leading zero (1-31). |
| dd | The day as a number with a leading zero (01-31). |
| ddd | The day as an abbreviation. |
| dddd | The day as a full name. |
| ddddd | The date using the short format. |
| dddddd | The date using the long format. |
| m | The month as a number without a leading zero (1-12). If the ''m'' specifier immediately follows an ''h'' or ''hh'' specifier, the minute rather than the month is displayed. |
| mm | The month as a number with a leading zero (01-12). If the ''mm'' specifier immediately follows an ''h'' or ''hh'' specifier, the minute rather than the month is displayed. |
| mmm | The month as an abbreviation. |
| mmmm | The month as a full name. |
| yy | The year as a two-digit number (00-99). |
| yyyy | The year as a four-digit number (0000-9999). |
| h | The hour without a leading zero (0-23). |
| hh | The hour with a leading zero (00-23). |
| n | The minute without a leading zero (0-59). |
| nn | The minute with a leading zero (00-59). |
| s | The second without a leading zero (0-59). |
| ss | The second with a leading zero (00-59). |
| t | The time using the short format. |
| tt | The time using the long format. |
| am/pm | The time using the 12-hour clock for the preceding ''h'' or ''hh'' specifier, followed by "am" for any hour before noon, or "pm" for any hour after noon. |
| a/p | The time using the 12-hour clock for the preceding ''h'' or ''hh'' specifier, followed by "a" for any hour before noon, or "p" for any hour after noon. |
| ampm | The time using the 12-hour clock format. |
| / | The date separator character. |
| : | The time separator character. |
| 'xx'/"xx" | Characters enclosed in single or double quotes are displayed as-is, with no formatting changes. |
Format specifiers may be written in uppercase or lowercase letters; both
produce the same result.
If the string given by the Format parameter is empty, the date and time
value is formatted as if a ''c'' format specifier had been given.