Date, period and amount formats

Redefined dates and periods are treated as alphanumeric data items.

The format of the date used in redefined data items is specified in Business Unit Setup as the Date Format and the Date Separator. The date separator character is included in the data item. For example, if the format is set to European (dd/mm/yyyy), with date separator '/' forward slash, then the 'yyyy' year can be derived in a redefined data item by specifying a Start Position of 7, and Data Length of 4.

The period format is ppp/yyyy, and the '/' forward slash character is included in the data item. For example, the period's year can be derived in a redefined data item by specifying a Start Position of 5, and Data Length of 4.

If a financial amount is referenced in a redefined data item, the amount format automatically truncates any decimal places, and excludes the thousands separator characters. The amount is further truncated at the number/character specified by the Start Position which acts from right to left, that is, starting with the units (least significant digit) as position 1, and tens as position 2, hundreds as 3, and so on. For example, if a base amount of 12,345.56 is referenced, a redefined data item with Start Position of 2 would give 12,340; with a Start Position of 3 would give 12,300.