XFA Specification
Chapter 24, Picture Clause Specification
Complex Picture-Clause Expressions
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Complex Picture-Clause Expressions
Picture clauses are structured to support increasing complex string sequences. A simple picture clause can
format a date, time, number, or text. These simple picture clauses may be assembled into more complex
structures that reflect locale and that provide picture clause choices. The following table summarizes the
levels of structure that can be applied to picture clauses. The square brackets enclose optional, repeating
items.
Structure
Simple picture clauses (described
earlier in this chapter)
“Predefined Picture Clauses”
“Compound Picture Clauses”
“Locale-Specific Picture Clauses”
“Locale-Specific, Compound Picture
Clauses”
“Alternate Picture Clauses”
“Alternate Locale-Specific Picture
Clauses”
Expression
picture-clause
category.subcategory{}
category{picture-clause}category{picture-clause}
[category{picture-clause}]
a
(locale){picture-clause}
category(locale){picture-clause}category(locale)
{picture-clause}
picture-clause|picture-clause[|picture-clause...]
a
category(locale){picture-clause}|
category(locale){picture-clause}
[|category(locale){picture-clause}]
a
a.Square brackets represent optional, repeating parts of a picture clause expression. They are not part of the picture
clause.
Predefined Picture Clauses
There is a set of predefined picture clauses that can be used in picture processing. The advantage of using
one of these predefined picture clauses is that it is already defined across all locales. The template can
invoke a predefined picture clause and automatically work across locales.
Within a template a predefined picture clause is invoked with the following syntax:
category-name.subcategory-name{}
where category-name is one of the keywords
date
,
time
,
num
, or
text
, and subcategory-name depends
on category-name as shown in the following table.
Category
name
date
Subcategory
name
Example data in
en_us
locale
short
medium
long
full
default
7/1/06
Jul 1, 2006
July 1, 2006
Saturday, July 1, 2006
Jul 1, 2006
Same data in
fr_fr
locale
01/07/06
1 juil. 2006
1 juillet 2006
samedi 1 juillet 2006
1 juil. 2006