Thursday, September 13, 2012

Internal Representation of Fixed-Point Decimal Data

Fixed-point decimal data is stored in packed decimal format. Each digit is stored in a half-byte, as shown in Figure. Bits 0 through 3 of the last half-byte contain a value indicating the sign. Normally, the hexadecimal value C indicates a positive value and the hexadecimal value D indicates a negative value.   Figure: Fixed-Point Decimal Data Representation

Use in Expressions

You cannot use fixed-point decimal data with a nonzero scale factor in calculations with binary integer variables. If you must use the two types of data together, use the DECIMAL built-in function to convert the binary value to a scaled decimal value before attempting an arithmetic operation. For example:

DECLARE I FIXED BINARY, 
       SUM FIXED DECIMAL (10,2); 
 
SUM = SUM + DECIMAL (I); 

Fixed-Point Decimal Variables

The attributes FIXED and DECIMAL are used to declare fixed-point decimal variables. The FIXED attribute is implied by DECIMAL. If you do not specify the precision and the scale factor, the default values are 10 and 0, respectively. The format of a declaration of a single fixed-point decimal variable is:

DECLARE identifier [FIXED] DECIMAL [(p[,q])]; 
Some examples of fixed-point decimal declarations are:

DECLARE PERCENTAGE FIXED DECIMAL (5,2); 
DECLARE TONNAGE FIXED DECIMAL (9); 

Fixed-Point Decimal Constants

A fixed-point decimal constant can have between 1 and 31 of the decimal digits 0 through 9 with an optional decimal point or sign, or both. If there is no decimal point, PL/I assumes it to be immediately to the right of the rightmost digit. Some examples of fixed-point decimal constants are:

12 
4.56 
12345.54 
-2 
01. 
The precision of a fixed-point decimal value is the total number of digits in the value. The scale factor is the number of digits to the right of the decimal point, if any. The scale factor cannot be greater than the precision.

Fixed-Point Decimal Data

Fixed-point decimal data is used in calculations where exact decimal values must be maintained, for example, in financial applications. You can also use fixed-point decimal data with a scale factor of 0 whenever integer data is required. The following sections describe fixed-point constants and variables and their use in expressions. This discussion is divided into the following parts:
  • Constants
  • Variables
  • Use in expressions
  • Internal representation

Internal Representation of Fixed-Point Binary Data

The following figure shows the internal representation of fixed-point binary data. Storage for fixed-point binary variables is always allocated in a byte, word, or longword. For any fixed-point binary value:
  • If p is in the range 1 through 7, a byte is allocated.
  • If p is in the range 8 through 15, a word is allocated.
  • If p is in the range 16 through 31, a longword is allocated.
The binary digits of the stored value go from right to left in order of increasing significance; for example, bit 6 of a FIXED BINARY (7) value is the most significant bit, and bit 0 is the least signficant. In all cases, the high-order bit (7, 15, or 31) represents the sign.   Figure: Internal Representation of Fixed-Point Binary Data

Fixed-Point Binary Data

The attributes FIXED and BINARY are used to declare integer variables and fractional variables in which the number of fractional digits is fixed (that is, nonfloating-point numbers). The BINARY attribute is implied by FIXED. For example, a fixed-point binary variable can be declared as:

DECLARE X FIXED BINARY(31,0); 
The variable X is given the attributes FIXED, BINARY, and (31,0) in this declaration. The precision is 31. The scale factor is 0, so the number is an integer. There is no representation in PL/I for a fixed-point binary constant. Instead, integer constants are represented as fixed decimal. However, fixed decimal integer constants (and variables) are converted to fixed binary when combined with fixed binary variables in expressions. For example:

I = I+3; 
In this example, if I is a fixed binary variable, the integer 3 is represented as fixed decimal; however, PL/I converts it to fixed binary when evaluating the expression. Fixed binary variables have a maximum precision of 31, and therefore fixed binary integers can have values only in the range -2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647. An attempt to calculate a binary integer outside this range, in a context that requires an integer value, signals the FIXEDOVERFLOW condition. The attributes FIXED BINARY are used to declare binary data in PL/I. The BINARY attribute is implied by FIXED. The format of a declaration of a single, fixed-point, binary variable is:

DECLARE identifier FIXED [BINARY] [(precision[,scale-factor])]; 
There is no form for a fixed-point binary constant, although constants of other computational types are convertible to fixed-point binary. A fixed-point binary variable usually receives given values by being assigned to an expression of another computational type or another fixed-point binary variable.