Suppress Print Format Option

Obsolete

This format option is obsolete. This command is valid only in character-mode DataFlex or BasicReport objects.

See Also

Purpose

To suppress output of leading or trailing spaces in image windows.

Syntax

print
variable [
    to
    window
] [
    {suppress
    [..., option]
    }
]

What It Does

When an image is output to the output device, spaces are output where positions in windows are not occupied by printable characters. This preserves the layout of the image by maintaining the full defined width of every window. When suppress is on a format or print command line, it suppresses output of these spaces from the window(s) to which it is applied, shifting the remainder of image output including static image data leftward on lines containing such window(s). It strips trailing spaces from output through string type windows and leading spaces from output through numeric-type windows. It is the only format option that can alter the output of static image data.

Example 1

format history.2 to history.5 {suppress}

In this example, trailing spaces will be stripped from output through the second through fifth windows in Imagehistory, assuming the windows are of Type String.

Example 2

print vendor.balance to form.3 {suppress, float$}

In this example, output through the third window in Imageform will be stripped of leading spaces (assuming it is of Type Number), and the currency character will be placed at the beginning of the output.

Notes

• An alternate way of applying suppress to a window is to replace one of the underscores in its definition with an at (@) character.

• When suppress is applied to numeric windows, output from such windows will not be aligned vertically on the decimal point, as is commonly desired with columnar numeric output.

• If a suppress option is used on an entry_item command line, it will have no effect, as it is intended only for use with the print and format commands.