Format specifiers

Format specifiers are used to state a desired format when formatting object values.

In ERP.net, they can be used as a second parameter for the calculated attribute operator FORMATSTRING or in the formatting string (‘:FormatSpecifier’) when referencing domain attributes in the SENDMAIL action (‘{DomainAttribute:FormatSpecifier}’).

There are two main types of format specifiers:

  • standard .Net format specifiers (Numeric, Date - Time, etc.)
  • custom format specifiers (Multilanguge string, Custom property)

Standard .Net format specifiers

The list below contains the most frequently used .Net format specifiers.

For a complete list and more information, please look at the official .Net documentation site.

Numeric format specifiers

  • 'C', 'c' - abbreviation for Currency.

Converts a number to a string that represents a currency amount. Can be used with a precision specifier that indicates the desired number of digits after the decimal point. The decimal symbol separator and the currency symbol depend on the local regional settings.

Returns:

123.4656 ('C') → $123.46

123.4656 ('C3') → $123.466

  • 'D', 'd' - abbreviation for Decimal.

Converts a number to a string of decimal digits (0-9), prefixed by a minus sign if the number is negative. Can be used with a precision specifier that indicates the desired number of digits after the decimal point. This format is supported only for integral types.

Returns:

1234 ('D') → 1234

1234 ('D6') → -001234

  • 'N', 'n' - abbreviation for Number.

Converts a number to a string. Can be used with a precision specifier that indicates the desired number of digits after the decimal point. The decimal symbol separator depends on the local regional settings.

Returns:

123.4656 (N) → 123.47

123.4656 (N3) → 123.466

  • 'P', 'p' - abbreviation for Percent.

Multiplies a number by 100 and converts it to a string representing a percentage. The precision specifier shows the desired number of decimal places. The decimal symbol separator depends on the regional settings.

Returns:

0.488869 (P) → 48.89%

0.488869 (P3) → 48.887%

Date and time format strings

In order to define the text representation of a date and time value, standard date-and-time format specifiers can be used alone, as standard date-and-time format string, or in combination, as custom format string.

A standard date-and-time format string uses a single format specifier. Any date and time format string that contains more than one character, including white space, is interpreted as a custom format string.

Standard date and time format strings:

  • 'D', 'd' - Short date pattern.

The returned format depends on the pattern set for Short date in the local regional settings.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 10.5.2019

  • 'D' - Long date pattern.

The returned format depends on the pattern set for Long date in the local regional settings.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 10 May 2019

  • 'f' - Full date/time pattern (short time).

The returned format depends on the pattern set for Long date and Short time in the local regional settings.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 10 May 2019 5:18

  • 'F' - Full date/time pattern (long time).

The returned format depends on the pattern set for Long date and Short time in the local regional settings.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 10 May 2019 5:18:39

  • 'M', 'm' - Month/day pattern.

The returned format depends on the current culture set in the local regional settings.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → May 10

  • 'u' - Universal sortable date/time pattern.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 2019-05-10 15:18:39Z

  • 'U' - Universal full date/time pattern.

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 10 May 2019 5:18:39

  • 'O' - Round-trip date/time pattern. ISO8601

Returns:

2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 → 2019-05-10T15:18:39.00000013Z

Custom format strings

  • 'd' - The day of the month, from 1 through 31.
  • 'M' - The month, from 1 through 12.
  • 'y' - The year, from 0 to 99.
  • 'h' - The hour, using a 12-hour clock from 1 to 12.
  • 'H' - The hour, using a 24-hour clock from 00 to 23.
  • 'm' - The minute, from 0 through 59.
  • 's' - The second, from 0 through 59.
  • 'f' - The tenths of a second in a date and time value.
  • '%' - Defines the following character as a custom
  • '/' - Тhe current's culture date seperator.
  • '' - The escape character.
  • 'string', 'string' - Literal string delimiter.

Examples

  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('dd MM yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff')→ 10 05 2019 03:18:39.013
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('yyyy MM dd hh:mm:ss.fff')→ 2019 05 10 03:18:39.013
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('dd M yyyy hh:mm:ss.fff')→ 10 5 2019 03:18
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('dd MMM yyyy hh:mm')→ 10 May 2019 03:18
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm')→ 10.05.2019 03:18
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm')→ 10/05/2019 03:18
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 (dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm)→ 10-05-2019 03:18
  • 2019-05-10 15:18:39.013 ('dd MM yyyy hh:mm 'h'')→ 10 05 2019 03:18 h

Custom format specifiers

There are also custom format specifiers created specifically for ERP.net.

They're different for the different data types and are described below.

Multilanguge string

  • 'C', 'CURRENT' - returns the string of the current value.

  • 'D', 'DUMP' - returns the content of the multilanguage string in the format:

EN=<english-string> DE=<german-string>

  • 'T', 'TRANSLITERATED' - returns transliteration to the current language.

  • format specifiers for a particular language - return the translation of a specified language.

If there's no transliteration set for that language, they return an empty string.

Note

Format specifiers for a particular language are supported since ERP.net version 2019.1.

Language format specifiers

'EN' - English
'BG' - Bulgarian
'CS' - Czech
'FR' - French
'DE' - German
'EL' - Greek
'HU' - Hungarian
'IT' - Italian
'MK' - Macedonian
'PL' - Polish
'PT' - Portuguese
'RO' - Romanian
'RU' - Russian
'SR' - Serbian
'ES' - Spanish

Custom property

  • 'VD' - abbreviation for Value/Description.

Returns:

<Value>: <Description>

  • 'V' - abbreviation for Value.

Returns:

<Value>

  • 'VDI' - abbreviation for Value/Description/Id.

Returns:

<Value>: <Description> (<Value-Id>)

  • 'D' - abbreviation for Description.

Returns:

<Description>