Custom number formatting symbols

If none of the built-in number formats meet your needs, you can create your own custom format in the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog box. Select Custom as the Category and create the format using the number format symbols listed in the table below. Each custom format can have up to four optional sections, one each for:

Positive numbers
Negative numbers
Zeros
Text

Each section is optional. Separate the sections by semicolons, as shown in the example below:

#,###;(#,###);0;"Error: Entry must be numeric"

For more examples, see Custom number formatting examples.

See KB486128 to resolve an issue with displaying custom number formats in graphs.

To jump to a section of the formatting symbol table, click one of the following:

Numeric symbols
Character/text symbols
Date and time symbols
Text color symbols
Currency symbols
Conditional symbols

Numeric symbols

For details on how numeric symbols apply to the Big Decimal data type, refer to the Project Design Help.

Symbol	General
General	Displays the number in General format, that is, no specific number format.
0	Digit placeholder. If the number contains fewer digits than the format contains placeholders, the number is padded with zeros. For example, the format code 00000 displays the number 12 as 00012. Use this placeholder for mandatory zeros. If there are more digits to the right of the decimal point than placeholders in the format, the decimal portion is rounded to the number of places specified by the placeholders. If there are more digits to the left of the decimal point than the placeholders in the format, the extra digits are retained. If the format contains zeros to the left of the decimal point, numbers less than one are displayed with a zero to the left of the decimal point.
#	Digit placeholder. This digit placeholder displays only significant digits and does not display insignificant zeros. For example, the format code ##.## displays the number 0025.360 as 25.36. Use this placeholder to indicate optional zeros. If there are more digits to the right of the decimal point than placeholders in the format, the decimal portion is rounded to the number of places specified by the placeholders. If there are more digits to the left of the decimal point than the placeholders in the format, the extra digits are retained. If the format contains only number signs (#) to the left of the decimal point, numbers less than one are displayed beginning with a decimal point. For example, the format #.00 will display the number 0.43 as .43.
?	Digit placeholder. This digit placeholder adds spaces for insignificant zeros on either side of the decimal point so that decimal points align when formatted with a fixed-width font. You can also use question marks (?) for fractions that have varying numbers of digits.
%	Displays the number as a percentage, by multiplying the number by 100 and appending the percent character (%).
, (comma)	Thousands separator. If the format contains commas separated by number signs (#) or zeros, a thousands separator is used in the formatted text. The actual thousands separator used depends on the session locale. A comma following a placeholder scales the number by a thousand. For example, using 0, scales the number by 1000, so that 10,000 displays as 10.
. (period)	Decimal separator. The actual decimal separator used depends on the session locale.
E-	Scientific notation. If the format contains a scientific notation symbol to the left of a 0 or # placeholder, the number is displayed in scientific notation and an E or The number of 0 and # placeholders to the right of the decimal determines the number of digits in the exponent. E- and e- place a minus sign by negative exponents. E+ and e+ place a minus sign by negative exponents and a plus sign by positive exponents.

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Character/text symbols

Symbol	Description
"text"	Displays the text inside the quotation marks. Even if the text is a valid formatting symbol, it is treated as literal text if it appears within quotes. Use quotation marks around any character that is not a formatting symbol, including a space, the dollar sign ($), minus sign (-), slash (/), exclamation mark (!), ampersand (&), tilde (~), curly brackets ({ }), equals sign (=), less than and greater than signs (< >), and the caret (^). This ensures that the text appears correctly in both MicroStrategy Developer and MicroStrategy Web.
:	In a date/time format, the colon (:) does not need to be enclosed in double quotation marks (" "). However, to display it in a numeric format, it must be enclosed in quotes. For example, if you have an integer that must be displayed as 12:34:56, the correct format is "##":"##":"##".
*	The asterisk (*) repeats the next character until the width of the column is filled. Only one asterisk can be used in each format section.
_	The underline ( _ ) skips the width of the next character. For example, to make negative numbers surrounded by parentheses align with positive numbers, you can include the format _). Positive numbers will then skip the width of a parenthesis.

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Date and time symbols

Symbol	Description
m	Month number. Displays the month as digits without leading zeros, such as 1. Can also represent minutes when used with the h or hh formats.
mm	Month number. Displays the month as digits with leading zeros, as in 01. Can also represent minutes when used with the h or hh formats.
mmm	Month abbreviation, such as Jan.
mmmm	Month name, such as January.
d	Day number. Displays the day as digits with no leading zeros, such as 1.
dd	Day number. Displays the day as digits with leading zeros, as in 01.
ddd	Day abbreviation, such as Sun.
dddd	Day name, such as Sunday.
yy	Year number. Displays the year as a two-digit number, such as 23.
yyyy	Year number. Displays the year as a four-digit number, such as 2023.
h	Hour number. Displays the hour as a number without leading zeros, such as 1. If the format contains an AM or PM format, the hour is based on a 12-hour clock; otherwise, it is based on a 24-hour clock.
hh	Hour number. Displays the hour as a number with leading zeros, as in 01. If the format contains an AM or PM format, the hour is based on a 12-hour clock; otherwise, it is based on a 24-hour clock.
m	Minute number. Displays the minute as a number without leading zeros, such as 1. The m format must appear immediately after the h or
mm	Minute number. Displays the minute as a number with leading zeros, such as 01. The mm format must appear immediately after the h or hh symbol; otherwise, it is interpreted as month.
s	Second number. Displays the second as a number without leading zeros, such as 1.
ss	Second number. Displays the second as a number with leading zeros, such as 01.
AM/PM am/pmA/P a/p	12-hour time. Displays time using a 12-hour clock. Displays AM, am, A, or a for times between midnight and noon; displays PM, pm, P, or p for times from noon until midnight.
[h]	Total number of hours.
[m]	Total number of minutes.
[s]	Total number of seconds.

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Currency symbols

You can include the following currency symbols in a number format. Keep the ALT key pressed and type the ANSI code of the currency. The ANSI code should be followed by the format code for the number.

To type ANSI code for the currency symbol, turn on NUM LOCK and use the numeric keypad. As you type the ANSI code, the Custom box appears blank. The currency symbol is displayed only when you finish typing the code.

Press the ALT key and type this code:	To Display:
0162	¢
0163	£
0165	¥
0128	€

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Text color symbols

Symbol	Description
[Black]	Displays cell text in black.
[Blue]	Displays cell text in blue.
[Cyan]	Displays cell text in cyan.
[Green]	Displays cell text in green.
[Magenta]	Displays cell text in magenta.
[Red]	Displays cell text in red.
[White]	Displays cell text in white.
[Yellow]	Displays cell text in yellow.

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Conditional symbols

Symbol	Description
[conditional value]	Designates a different condition for each section. For example, data in a column has values ranging from 200 to 800. You want the text "Poor" to display in black for values less than 400, "Good" to display in red for values greater than 600, and "Average" for values between 400 and 600. You can use the following code: [<400][Black]"Poor";[>600][Red]"Good";[Blue]"Average" In this example, [<400] and [>600] are the conditional values.

Symbol

Description

[conditional value]

Designates a different condition for each section.

For example, data in a column has values ranging from 200 to 800. You want the text "Poor" to display in black for values less than 400, "Good" to display in red for values greater than 600, and "Average" for values between 400 and 600. You can use the following code:
[<400][Black]"Poor";[>600][Red]"Good";[Blue]"Average"
In this example, [<400] and [>600] are the conditional values.

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