>>>>I can see an amount like $123.45 being 000012345 (the left seven being 0000123 and the right two being 45).
>>>>
>>>>But how do I express -$123.45 ?? Since I can't put the - in the string at all, since it wants only numeric values......
>>>>
>>>>Thanks!
>>>
>>>VariableName PIC S999V99.
>>
>>Thanks, Grady.... we found some code here that will convert from the Decimal to the Cobol representation for negative numbers.
>
>Sign trailing overpunch? It's been 23 years since I last had to think about that. Unless, of course, it's a BCD, which is another format I forgot the same day :).

Don't worry - It'll probably come back in style with the next Microsoft technology leap (backwards).