INTEGER Type in NCL Programming

The INTEGER type is used to contain any positive or negative whole numbers in the range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 (that is, it is a signed 32 bit number).
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The INTEGER type is used to contain any positive or negative whole numbers in the range -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 (that is, it is a signed 32 bit number).
External Form - Input
Valid input consists of a string of up to 15 digits optionally preceded by a plus sign (+) or minus sign (-) providing the sign (positive or negative) of the value (positive if omitted). All other characters must be valid digits (that is, 0 through 9). Alternatively, if the map definition included named values for this component, the symbolic name of the named value can be supplied as external form input.
External Form - Output
Output consists of a string of one or more local characters. If the integer value is negative the first character is a minus sign (-), otherwise the sign is omitted. All other characters are numeric characters. Leading zeroes are stripped.
Local Form and Behavior
Internally, Mapping Services can store integers in one of three formats:
binary
Can be up to 4 bytes in length. If the length is not fixed then the value is kept in the smallest number of bytes possible. If the length is fixed then the value is right-aligned and sign extended to the left.
packed
Can be up to 8 bytes in length. The integer value is converted to the packed decimal equivalent. If the length is not fixed then the value is kept in the smallest number of bytes possible. If the length is fixed then the value is right-aligned and zero padded to the left.
zoned
Can be up to 15 bytes in length. The integer value is converted to the zoned decimal equivalent. If the length is not fixed then the value is kept in the smallest number of bytes possible. If the length is fixed then the value is right aligned and zero padded to the left.
For any format, if a value exceeds that which can be stored without loss of significance a type check results. If a named value is input then the map definition is used to determine the actual integer value.