1. Asterisk Padding
   #### → *****####
   
   
2. Date Formatting
   (See the date variable formatting page)
   
   
3. Manual ZIP+4 Formatting
   ######### → #####-####
   
   
4. Masking Data
   ####### → ****###
   
   
5. Phone Number Formatting
   ########## → (###) ###-####
   
   
6. Removing Zero Padding
   00000#### → ####
   
   
7. Reversing Comma Separated Names
   LAST NAME, FIRST NAME → FIRST NAME LAST NAME
   
   
8. Social Security Number Formatting
   ######### → ###-##-####
   
   
9. Spelled Out Dollar Amount
   123.45 → one hundred twenty three dollars and forty five cents
   (See the text variable formatting page)
   
   
10. Zero Padding
    #### → 00000####
    
    
11. Comma Formatting
    1234567.00 → 1,234,567.00
    (See also the floating point/real/currency formatting page)

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Asterisk Padding

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "DATA")

1. Create a new text variable for the padded data.
   (PADDED DATA will be used for this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to pad the data:
   Result variable = PADDED DATA
   Function = Format
   Parameter 1 = variable, DATA
   Parameter 2 = fixed, %12s
   (replace "12" with the desired padding length)

3. Create a function below the padding function:
   Result variable = PADDED DATA
   Function = Regular expression
   Parameter 1 = variable, PADDED DATA
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   • Replace all spaces with asterisks

     s/\s/*/g

   • Replace leading spaces with asterisks:

     s/\G\s/*/g

4. PADDED DATA now has the formatted string.

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Manual ZIP+4 Formatting

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "ZIP CODE")

1. Create a new text variable for the formatted ZIP code
   (FORMATTED ZIP will be used for  this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to format the ZIP code
   Result variable = FORMATTED ZIP
   Function = Regexp
   Parameter 1 = variable, ZIP CODE
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   s/(\d{5})(\d{4})/$1-$2/

3. FORMATTED ZIP now has the formatted string

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Masking Data

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be masked is stored in a variable named "DATA")

1. Create a new text variable for the masked data
   (MASKED DATA will be used for  this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to mask the data
   Result variable = MASKED DATA
   Function = Regexp
   Parameter 1 = variable, DATA
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   s/\G.(?=.{3})/*$1/g

3. MASKED DATA now has the formatted string

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Phone Number Formatting

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "PHONE NUMBER")

1. Create a new text variable for the formatted phone number
   (FORMATTED PHONE NUMBER will be used for  this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to format the phone number
   Result variable = FORMATTED PHONE NUMBER
   Function = Regexp
   Parameter 1 = variable, PHONE NUMBER
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   s/(\d{3})(\d{3})(\d{4})/($1) $2-$3/

3. FORMATTED PHONE NUMBER now has the formatted string

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Remove Zero Padding

(This can be done directly when defining a text field/variable with the "Remove Zeros" function)

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "DATA")

1. Create a new text variable for the formatted data
   (FORMATTED DATA will be used for  this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to format the data
   Result variable = FORMATTED DATA
   Function = Remove Zeros
   Parameter 1 = variable, DATA

3. FORMATTED DATA now has the formatted string

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Reversing Comma Separated Names

(This can be done directly when defining a text field/variable with the "Reverse Text" function with a "," in the parameter text box to the right of the function drop-down)

(For the purposes of this example, the name to be reversed is stored in a variable named "NAME")

1. Create a new text variable for the reversed name
   (REVERSED NAME will be used for  this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to reverse the name
   Result variable = REVERSED NAME
   Function = Reverse Text
   Parameter 1 = variable, NAME
   Parameter 2 = fixed, ","

3. REVERSED NAME now has the formatted string

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Social Security Number Formatting

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "SSN")

1. Create a new text variable for the formatted Social Security number
   (FORMATTED SSN will be used for  this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to format the Social Security number
   Result variable = FORMATTED SSN
   Function = Regexp
   Parameter 1 = variable, SSN
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   s/(\d{3})(\d{2})(\d{4})/$1-$2-$3/

3. FORMATTED SSN now has the formatted string

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Zero Padding

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "DATA")

1. Create a new text variable for the padded data.
   (PADDED DATA will be used for this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to pad the data:
   Result variable = PADDED DATA
   Function = Format
   Parameter 1 = variable, DATA
   Parameter 2 = fixed, %12s
   (replace "12" with the desired padding length)

3. Create a function below the padding function:
   Result variable = PADDED DATA
   Function = Regular expression
   Parameter 1 = variable, PADDED DATA
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   • Replace all spaces with zeros

     s/\s/0/g

   • Replace leading spaces with zeros:

     s/\G\s/0/g

4. PADDED DATA now has the formatted string.

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Comma Formatting

(For the purposes of this example, the data to be formatted is stored in a variable named "DATA")

1. Create a new text variable for the formatted data with commas.
   (COMMA FORMATTED DATA will be used for this example)

2. Create a function below the variable definition to pad the data:
   Result variable = COMMA FORMATTED DATA
   Function = Regular Expression
   Parameter 1 = variable, DATA
   Parameter 2 = fixed,

   s/(\d)(?=(?:\d{3})+(?:\.|$))/$1,/g

3. COMMA FORMATTED DATA now has the formatted string.

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