Format Strings

Format Strings can be used to tell dbFront how to format and display numeric and date field types within Grids and Reports. Format Strings won't be applied when the field is displayed in Forms because a format string may hide information or make it difficult to edit.

dbFront uses the .Net formatting engine. Below are several charts detailing the formatting options. Additional References are below:

Downloadable PDF Cheatsheet: .NET Format Strings - cheat sheets
Detailed Microsoft Reference: Formatting Types in .NET

Numeric Formatting

Standard Numeric Format Strings
Format Specifier	Description	Examples
`C` or `c`	Currency	C C C	1 1.23 -12345	$1 $1.23 -$12,345
`D` or `d`	Decimal (Whole number)	D4	1	0001
`E` or `e`	Scientific	E3	Pi	3.142E+000
`F` or `f`	Fixed-point	F3	Pi	3.142
`G` or `g`	General	G	1.23	1.23
`N` or `n`	Number	N N1 N4	1234.567 1234.567 1234.567	1,234.57 1,234.6 1234.5670
`P` or `p`	Percent	P P	1 -0.39678	100.00 % 39.7 %
`X` or `x`	Hexadecimal	x X X4	255 255 255	ff FF 00FF

Microsoft Definitive Reference: Standard Numeric Format Strings

Custom Numeric Format Strings
Format Specifier	Type	Examples
`0`	Zero placeholder	00.0000	1234.56	1234.5600
`#`	Digit placeholder	(#).##	1234.56	(1234).56
`.`	Decimal point	0.0	1234.56	1234.6
`,`	Thousand separator	0,0	1234.56	1,235
`,.`	Number scaling. Comma adjacent to Period scales by 1000.	0,.	1234.56	1
`%`	Percent. Multiplies by 100, adds % sign.	0%	1234.56	123456%
`e`	Exponent placeholder	00e+0	1234.56	12e+2
`;`	Section separator to allow formatting: Positive, Negative, and Zero values separately	##;(##);Zero	1234 -1234 0	1234 (1234) Zero

Microsoft Definitive Reference: Custom Numeric Format Strings

Date Formatting

Note: Date formatting is especially dependent on your system’s cultural settings.

Standard Date & Time Format Strings
Format Specifier	Description	Examples (December 10, 2100 10:11:29 PM)
`d`	Short date	10/12/2100
`D`	Long date	December 10, 2100
`t`	Short time	10:11 PM
`T`	Long time	10:11:29 PM
`f`	Full date & time	December 10, 2100, 10:11 PM
`F`	Full date & time (long)	December 10, 210,0 10:11:29 PM
`g`	Default date & time	10/12/2100 10:11 PM
`G`	Default date & time (long)	10/12/2100 10:11:29 PM
`M`	Month day pattern	December 10
`r`	RFC1123 date string	Tue, 10 Dec 2100 22:11:29 GMT
`s`	Sortable date string	2100-12-10T22:11:29
`u`	Universal sortable, local time	2100-12-10 22:13:50Z
`U`	Universal sortable, GMT	December 11, 2100 3:13:50 AM
`Y`	Year month pattern	December, 2100

Microsoft Definitive Reference: Standard Date & Time Format Strings

Custom Date & Time Format Strings
Format Specifier	Type	Examples
`dd`	Day	dd	10
`ddd`	Day name	ddd	Tue
`dddd`	Full day name	dddd	Tuesday
`f, ff, …`	Second fractions	fff	932
`gg, …`	Era	gg	A.D.
`hh`	2 digit hour	hh	10
`HH`	2 digit hour, 24hr format	HH	22
`mm`	Minute 00-59	mm	38
`MM`	Month 01-12	MM	12
`MMM`	Month abbreviation	MMM	Dec
`MMMM`	Full month name	MMMM	December
`ss`	Seconds 00-59	ss	46
`tt`	AM or PM	tt	PM
`yy`	Year, 2 digits	yy	02
`yyyy`	Year	yyyy	2100
`zz`	Timezone offset, 2 digits	zz	-05
`zzz`	Full timezone offset	zzz	-05:00
`:`	Separator	hh:mm:ss	10:43:20
`/`	Separator	dd/MM/yyyy	10/12/2100

Microsoft Definitive Reference: Custom Date & Time Format Strings