Database Reference
In-Depth Information
your symbol to appear: after the number, before the minus sign (if any), or after the
minus sign but before the number.
▪ The Negative line gives you control over how numbers below zero are displayed. You
can set a color and choose any one of six negative number formats:
— -1234 puts a negative sign before the number in the usual fashion.
— 1234- puts the sign on the end instead.
— For that oh-so-financial look, choose (1234) instead. It puts negative numbers in par-
entheses.
— <1234> is similar, but it uses angle brackets instead of parentheses.
— If you're an accountant, hold on to your hat. The 1234 CR option makes you feel right
at home when crediting those accounts.
— The last choice puts a small triangle before negative numbers.
NOTE
The “Color” option for negative numbers may seem a little redundant considering you can get
exactly the same effect using conditional formatting (covered in Chapter 15 ) . In FileMaker's
early years, the “Use color” option was the only way to apply a different color to negative num-
bers. These days, you can use whichever method you prefer.
Separators are used to partition parts of a number. The box labeled Decimal contains the
symbol used to demark the point between the whole and fractional parts of the number.
It's traditionally a period, but you're free to change it to whatever single character you
want. “Use thousands separators,” when checked, will group large numbers into sets of
three digits. Here too, you may change the default comma with any one character. Activ-
ating the System Settings checkbox takes the matter out of your hands and displays the
default separator characters supplied by the current user's operating system.
▪ The Japanese subsection lets you choose among half-width, full-width, traditional kanji,
or modern kanji for your numerals. You can also turn on kanji-specific separators.
Currency
Choose the Currency format, and you may think something is broken. None of the options
changed! Well, currency and decimal are in fact the same set of options. But you can config-
ure their standard settings independently so you don't lose those oddball decimal settings you
so meticulously slaved over every time you need to use currency. See Figure 8-13 for more
detail.
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