Input Data Types
Input data is information that you would normally enter from your terminal. The manner in which you enter information in an input file depends on the type of information the field is set up to handle. There are four types of input data:
• Character fields can be alphabetic or numeric but have no mathematical operations applied to them. Descriptions (alphabetic) and customer codes (numeric) are examples of character fields. Surround descriptions with double quotation marks (“ ”). The description is accepted without quotation marks, but may be interpreted as more than one input. If there is a space in the description, you must use quotation marks.
• Fields used in mathematical operations are numeric values. They can contain a decimal point (.) or a negative sign (–), but no other symbols, including commas (,) and dollar signs ($) are allowed. Do not use quotation marks for numeric values.
• Logical fields use Yes/No values and do not require quotation marks.
• Format date fields the way they are formatted in the source field.