COBOL ZERO Suppression and Replacement Editing

• Zero Suppression involves omitting leading zeros from a number, and replacement editing involves replacing leading zeros with another character, typically a space or an asterisk (*).
• These techniques ensure that leading zeros are removed from the number and displayed in a more reader-friendly manner.
• These techniques are applicable only to numeric-edited items.

There are two varieties of suppression and replacement editing -

• Suppression of leading zeros and replacing with spaces.
• Suppression of leading zeros and replacing with asterisks.

ZERO suppression and replacement editing symbols are -

• Z - Suppresses leading zeros. The leading zeros are replaced by spaces and displays the digits that is valid number.
• * - Replaces leading zeros with asterisks.
• Z and * - A combination of both.

Examples -