Java in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

Name

DecimalFormat

Synopsis

This is the concrete Format class used by NumberFormat for all locales that use base 10 numbers. Most applications do not need to use this class directly; they can use the static methods of NumberFormat to obtain a default NumberFormat object for a desired locale and then perform minor locale-independent customizations on that object.

Applications that require highly customized number formatting and parsing may create custom DecimalFormat objects by passing a suitable pattern to the DecimalFormat( ) constructor method. The applyPattern( ) method can change this pattern. A pattern consists of a string of characters from the table below. For example:

"$#,##0.00;($#,##0.00)"

Character	Meaning
#	A digit; zeros show as absent.
0	A digit; zeros show as 0.
.	The locale-specific decimal separator.
,	The locale-specific grouping separator (comma).
-	The locale-specific negative prefix.
%	Shows value as a percentage.
;	Separates positive number format (on left) from optiona negative number format (on right).
'	Quotes a reserved character, so it appears literally in the output (apostrophe).
other	Appears literally in output.

A DecimalFormatSymbols object can be specified optionally when creating a DecimalFormat object. If one is not specified, a DecimalFormatSymbols object suitable for the default locale is used.

In Java 5.0, DecimalFormat can return java.math.BigDecimal values from its parse( ) method. Call setParseBigDecimal( ) to ...