08-237r1 To: J3 From: Steve Lionel Subject: Comment J32023 from Robert Corbett Date: 2008 August 12 Commenter's Subject was "zeros and sign control" Paragraph 3 of Section 4.4.3 should explicitly state that processors that distinguish between positive and negative zeros shall treat zero values that are positive zeros as positive values and negative zeros as negative values during format editing. J3's Response: J3 agrees that the standard should explicitly state how negative zeroes are represented in formatted output, but feels that 4.4.3 is not the appropriate place for this. J3 also notes that the text needs to reference "the sign mode of the connection" when discussing the sign prefix. Edit: [10.7.2.1] Replace subsection (3) with the following: "On output with I, F, E, EN, ES, D, and G editing, the representation of a positive internal value in the field may be prefixed with a plus sign, as controlled by the S, SP, and SS edit descriptors or the sign mode (9.5.6.17, 9.6.2.14) for the connection. The representation of a negative internal value in the field shall be prefixed with a minus sign. If the processor distinguishes between positive and negative zero, the representation of a negative zero shall be prefixed with a minus sign; otherwise, a zero value shall be treated as positive for the purpose of determining the sign prefix."