Fields

Picture Format

Ice Porter converts supported numeric and date/time picture formats and reports recognized conversion problems in its log. A clean log does not replace output validation: locale, field width, and runtime values can expose differences that a format string alone cannot reveal.

Using Report Builder version 4.2, field pictures are stored independent of the current regional settings of the machine. However, for Report Builder version 3.1 it is important to use the same culture settings that was active when the report was saved for the last time. Otherwise, Ice Porter will fail to convert the picture formats correctly.

Format Validation

The version 3.1 and 4.2 observations describe historical Report Builder formats. Preserve the source environment's regional settings when reproducing a conversion problem. Compare negative values, zero, null, grouping separators, date boundaries, and long formatted values after conversion. A picture that looks correct for one positive number can still change rounding or overflow the field.

Separate the stored value, display picture, and totaling rule. A value of 1.234 may display as 1.23; adding three stored values gives 3.702, while adding the three displayed values gives 3.69. Choose the behavior required by the original report rather than changing the underlying values to make one preview match. Test with amounts that expose the difference.