Display of numeric variable values

By default, numeric variable values are displayed to their full calculated precision.

var	value display
pi	3.14159...
2	2
Round (pi, -4)	3.1416
sigdig (1234.5, 3)	1230
1.001	1.001

You can override the format displayed by using add @format in the last column of the variable definition table. For example, to change the display of the number 1234.5:

Format	Display	Meaning
#	1235	Integer format. Rounds the value to the nearest integer.
#.	1235.	Integer format with trailing decimal point.
#.#	1234.5	Floating point with 2 digits of precision. Additional digits of precision are added by providing more pound signs to the right of the decimal. For example, #.## produces 1234.50.
#.##E+00	1.23*10^03	Scientific notation (same rules for digits of precision as for floating point, described above). The E+00 portion specifies the minimum number of digits for the exponent. To increase the number of exponent digits, add more zeros (for example, E+000).
{2}	1200	Round and display to 2 significant figures, using loose significant figure conventions. (Information about loose sigfig conventions is provided below.)
[2]	1.2*10^3	Round and display to 2 significant figures, using tight significant figure conventions. (Information about tight sigfig conventions is provided below.)
[2.]	1.2*10^3	See also information about trailing-dot notation below.

Important: Changing the display format for numeric variable values does not round the answer. For example, if the variable value is 12345 and the format is {3}, the value displayed is 12300 even though the value used in calculations or to evaluate the answer is still 12345.

Loose and tight significant figure conventions

In the following example:

V is a value expressed as a decimal (e.g., 12345.6789).
L is the number of digits in V to the left of the decimal place.
R is the number to the right of the decimal place.
N is the number of significant digits.

Loose sigfig conventions

Round V to N significant figures. Call this V_r.

If ...	Then ...
V_r > 10000 or V_r < 0.1	Express V_r in scientific notation with 1 digit left of the decimal and N-1 digits right of the decimal. If N = 1, do not include the decimal point.
1 > V_r >= 0.1	Display as zero+decimal point+N digits right of the decimal point.
N > L	Display all digits to the left of the decimal, a decimal point, and N-L right of the decimal.
N <= L	Display as an integer without any decimal point.

Tight sigfig conventions without trailing-dot notation

Round V to N significant figures. Call this V_r.

If ...	Then ...
V_r > 10000 or V_r < 0.1	Express V in scientific notation with 1 digit left of the decimal and N-1 digits right of the decimal. If N = 1, do not include the decimal point.
1 > V_r >= 0.1	Display as zero+decimal point+N digits right of the decimal point.
N > L	Display all digits to the left of the decimal, a decimal point, and N-L right of the decimal.
N = L, and the right-most digit before the decimal is not zero	Display as an integer.
N = L, and right-most digit before the decimal is zero	Display using scientific notation.
N < L	Display using scientific notation with 1 digit left of the decimal and N-1 digits right of the decimal
N < L and N = 1	Display using scientific notation. Do not include the decimal point

Using tight conventions without trailing-dot notation:

1 significant figure – 200
2 significant figures – 2.0*10^2
3 significant figures – 2.00*10^2

Tight sigfig conventions with trailing dot-notation

These are the same as tight without trailing dot except for the last row:

If ...	Then ...
N = L, and the last digit is zero	Display as an integer and add a decimal point at the end.

Using tight conventions with trailing dot notation, 200 is displayed as:

1 significant figure – 200
2 significant figures – 2.0*10^2
3 significant figures – 200. (includes the period)

See also:

Display of numeric answers