## 8.1.2 Edit Descriptor Syntax

An edit descriptor takes one of the following forms:

    c

    [n]c

    c[n]

c
  Is a format code (T, TL, TR, X, S, SP, SS, BN, BZ, P, H, Q, $, :, '...', or "..." (Alpha only).
n
  Is the number of characters or character positions.

The term n must be an unsigned integer constant (for format code P, it can be signed or unsigned) or a variable format expression.

The value of n for P must be within the range -128 to 127. For all other format codes, the range for the value of n differs depending on the processor, as follows:

Term | Range[1]
--- | ---
n | VAX: 1 through 32767[2] (2**15-1)
| Alpha: 1 through 2147483647 (2**31-1)
[1] Actual useful ranges may be constrained by record sizes (RECL) and the file system. [2] Above 32767, you receive an error.

The edit descriptors are as follows:

- Character string constants - '...', "..." (Alpha only), nH

- Positional - Tn, TLn, TRn, X

- Sign - S, SP, SS

- Blank - BN, BZ

- Scale factor - nP

- Additional -- :, Q, $

For More Information:

- On edit descriptors, see Section 8.4.

- On a summary of field and edit descriptors, see Section 8.1.3.

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