The Picture function lets you provide a template to use when formatting a string. For example, you can force a phone number to appear in the format (906) 555-1212, or a Social Security number to appear in the format 326-75-3847. Use it in conjunction with the ToText function, and you can also control how a number is displayed.
| Syntax | Example | Result |
| Picture(x, “y”) | Picture({ssn},”xxx-xx-xxxx” | “326-75-3847″ where ssn=”326753847″ |
Numbers (and Currency)
| Syntax | Variable | Optional |
| Picture(x, “y”) | x | The string to format |
| “y” | The template to use when formatting (must be enclosed in quotes) |
Examples
| Example | Result |
| Picture(CA,”[xx]“) | “[CA]“ |
| Picture({phone},”(xxx) xxx-xxxx” | “(906) 555-1212″ |
| Picture({city},”xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”) | “Calumet” result is cropped to max number of x’s you have included; so make sure to use enough to cover longest result. The max is 252 characters. |
Note: You cannot use an asterisk as a wildcard in the picture argument. If you put an asterisk in the argument, it will show up as an asterisk in the resulting string.