| Numeric / String format | |
|---|---|
| 0 | A digit. Displays ‘0’ if the formatted number does not have a digit in that position. |
| # | Any number of leading digits, a single digit, or nothing. If this character goes first in the format string, it can match multiple leading digits (before the decimal point). Subsequent characters match a single digit. If the formatted number does not have a digit in the corresponding position, it displays nothing. For example, if you apply format “#0.#” to “123.45”, the result is “123.5”. |
| . | A decimal separator. Actual character depends on locale. |
| , | A group separator. Actual character depends on locale. |
| % | The percent sign. Multiplies the input value by 100. |
| ; | Separates positive and negative format patterns. For example, the “#0.##;(#0.##)” format displays a positive number according to the pattern before the semicolon (“;”), and a negative number according to the pattern after the semicolon (“;”). If you do not use this character and the additional pattern, negative numbers display a minus (“-“) prefix. |
| Escape characters | You can display the special characters above as literals if you enclose them in single quotation marks. For example, ‘%’. |
| Other characters | You can add any literal characters to the beginning or end of the format string. |
| Date-Time Format | |
|---|---|
| y | A calendar year |
| Q | A quarter number or name. Available combinations with example: “Q” – “2”, “QQ” – “02”, “QQQ” – “Q2” and “QQQQ” – “2nd quarter”. |
| M | A month number or name. Available combinations with example: “M” – “9”, “MM” – “09”, “MMM” – “Sep”, “MMMM” – “September”, “MMMMM” – “S”. |
| d | A month day. |
| E | A week day name. Available combinations with example: “E”, “EE” or “EEE” – “Tue”, “EEEE” – “Tuesday”, “EEEEE” – “T”. |
| a | A day period (am or pm). |
| h | An hour. From 1 to 12. |
| H | An hour. From 0 to 23. |
| m | A minute. |
| s | A second. |
| S | A fractional second. |
| ” (two single quotes) | Literal text. Text enclosed in two single quotes is shown as-is. |