Decimal Tabs

Note: Please do not be put off by the term "Decimal"! In DBT, this Code can be used in a variety of ways to align text or numbers. A term we might perhaps call "Designated Character Alignment"

Also known as: Decimal Alignment

What you might need to know first: It might help to study the Notes on General Code Syntax.

Codes Used: [ifbrl] and/or [ifprt] and [svdac~x]

Keystroke: (None at present)

What does it do?

It allows you to specify what character is to be used to align numbers or even text.

Where would it be used?

Many countries write numbers with commas separating the thousands, and a period or full stop as the decimal point. For example: 7,134.56

However, in much of Europe (Not in the U.K.) the format is reversed, and therefore in the above example, it would be written as 7.124,56

Note: This would be an ideal code to include in the initial style of a Template.

For the more technical:

[svdac~X] -- Set decimal alignment character to X. This sets the character that is used by the tab commands to control decimal alignment. The default is the character that is common for American usage, i.e. presently [svdac~.] for both print and braille files (= dots 4-6 in the latter).