layout: default title: Number Skeletons nav_order: 3 grand_parent: Formatting parent: Formatting Numbers

Number Skeletons

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Overview

Number skeletons are a locale-agnostic way to configure a NumberFormatter in ICU. Number skeletons work in MessageFormat.

Number skeletons consist of case-sensitive tokens that correspond to settings in ICU NumberFormatter. For example, to format a currency in compact notation with the sign always shown, you could use this skeleton:

sign-always compact-short currency/GBP

Since ICU 67, you can also use more concise syntax:

+! K currency/GBP

To use a skeleton in MessageFormat, use the “number” type and prefix the skeleton with ::

{0, number, :: +! K currency/GBP}

The ICU toSkeleton() API outputs the long-form skeletons, but all parts of ICU that read user-specified number skeletons accept both long-form and concise skeletons.

Syntax

A token consists of a stem and zero or more options. The stem is what occurs before the first "/" character in a token, and the options are each of the subsequent "/"-delimited strings. For example, "compact-short" and “currency” are stems, and "GBP" is an option.

Tokens are space-separated, with exceptions for concise skeletons listed at the end of this document.

Stems might also be dynamic strings (not a fixed list); these are called blueprint stems. For example, to format a number with 2-3 significant digits, you could use the following stem:

@@#

A few examples of number skeletons are shown below. The list of available stems and options can be found below in Skeleton Stems and Options.

Examples

Long Skeleton	Concise Skeleton	Input	en-US Output	Comments
`percent`	`%`	25	25%
`.00`	`.00`	25	25.00	Equivalent to `Precision::fixedFraction(2)`
`percent .00`	`% .00`	25	25.00%
`scale/100`	`scale/100`	0.3	30	Multiply by 100 before formatting
`percent scale/100`	`%x100`	0.3	30%
`measure-unit/length-meter`	`unit/meter`	5	5 m	`UnitWidth` defaults to `Short`
`measure-unit/length-meter` `unit-width-full-name`	`unit/meter` `unit-width-full-name`	5	5 meters
`currency/CAD`	`currency/CAD`	10	CA$10.00
`currency/CAD` `unit-width-narrow`	`currency/CAD` `unit-width-narrow`	10	$10.00	Use the narrow symbol variant
`compact-short`	`K`	5000	5K
`compact-long`	`KK`	5000	5 thousand
`compact-short` `currency/CAD`	`K currency/CAD`	5000	CA$5K
-	-	5000	5,000
`group-min2`	`,?`	5000	5000	Require 2 digits in group for separator
`group-min2`	`,?`	15000	15,000
`sign-always`	`+!`	60	+60	Show sign on all numbers
`sign-always`	`+!`	0	+0
`sign-except-zero`	`+?`	60	+60	Show sign on all numbers except 0
`sign-except-zero`	`+?`	0	0
`sign-accounting` `currency/CAD`	`() currency/CAD`	-40	(CA$40.00)

Skeleton Stems and Options

The full set of features supported by number skeletons is listed by category below.

Notation

Use one of the following stems to select compact or simple notation:

compact-short or K (concise)
compact-long or KK (concise)
notation-simple (or omit since this is default)

There are two ways to select scientific or engineering notation: using long-form syntax or concise syntax.

Scientific and Engineering Notation: Long Form

Start with the stem scientific or engineering. Those stems take the following optional options:

/sign-xxx sets the sign display option for the exponent; see Sign.
/*ee sets exponent digits to “at least 2”; use /*eee for at least 3 digits, etc.
- Prior to ICU 67, use /+ee instead of /*ee.

For example, all the following skeletons are valid:

scientific
scientific/sign-always
scientific/*ee
scientific/*ee/sign-always

Scientific and Engineering Notation: Concise Form

The following are examples of concise form:

Concise Skeleton	Equivalent Long-Form Skeleton
`E0`	`scientific`
`E00`	`scientific/*ee`
`EE+!0`	`engineering/sign-always`
`E+?00`	`scientific/sign-except-zero/+ee`

More precisely:

Start with E for scientific or EE for engineering.
Allow either +! or +? as a concise sign display option.
Expect one or more 0s. If more than one, set minimum integer digits.

Unit

The supported types of units are percent, currency, and measurement units. The following skeleton tokens are accepted:

percent or % (concise)
Special: %x100 to scale the number by 100 and then format with percent
permille
base-unit
currency/XXX
measure-unit/aaaa-bbbb or unit/bbb (concise)

The percent, permille, and base-unit stems do not take any options.

The currency stem takes one required option: the three-letter ISO code of the currency to be formatted.

The measure-unit stem takes one required option: the unit identifier of the unit to be formatted. The full unit identifier is required: both the type and the subtype (for example, length-meter).

The unit stem is an alternative to measure-unit that accepts a core unit identifier with the subtype but not the type (for example, meter instead of length-meter). It also supports variations allowed by UTS 35, including the per unit with the -per- infix (for example, unit/furlong-per-second).

Per Unit

To specify a unit to put in the denominator, use the following skeleton token. As with the measure-unit stem, pass the unit identifier as the option:

per-measure-unit/aaaa-bbbb

Note that if the unit stem is used, the denominator can be placed in the same token as the numerator.

Unit Width

The unit width can be specified by the following stems:

unit-width-narrow
unit-width-short
unit-width-full-name
unit-width-iso-code
unit-width-hidden

For more details, see UNumberUnitWidth.

Precision

The precision category has more blueprint stems than most other categories; they are documented in detail below. The following non-blueprint stems are accepted:

precision-integer (round to the nearest integer) --- accepts fraction-precision options
precision-unlimited (do not perform rounding; display all digits)
precision-increment/dddd (round to dddd, a decimal number) --- see below
precision-currency-standard
precision-currency-cash

To round to the nearest nickel, for example, use the skeleton precision-increment/0.05. For more information on the decimal number syntax, see Scale.

Fraction Precision

The following are examples of fraction-precision stems:

Stem	Explanation	Equivalent C++ Code
`.00`	Exactly 2 fraction digits	`Precision::fixedFraction(2)`
`.00*`	At least 2 fraction digits	`Precision::minFraction(2)`
`.##`	At most 2 fraction digits	`Precision::maxFraction(2)`
`.0#`	Between 1 and 2 fraction digits	`Precision::minMaxFraction(1, 2)`

More precisely, the fraction precision stem starts with ., then contains zero or more 0 symbols, which implies the minimum fraction digits. Then it contains either a *, for unlimited maximum fraction digits, or zero or more # symbols, which implies the minimum fraction digits when added to the 0 symbols.

Note that the stem . is considered valid and is equivalent to precision-integer.

Fraction-precision stems accept a single optional option: the minimum or maximum number of significant digits. This allows you to combine fraction precision with certain significant digits capabilities. The following are examples:

Skeleton	Explanation	Equivalent C++ Code
`.##/@@@*`	At most 2 fraction digits, but guarantee at least 3 significant digits	`Precision::maxFraction(2)` `.withMinDigits(3)`
`.00/@##`	Exactly 2 fraction digits, but do not display more than 3 significant digits	`Precision::fixedFraction(2)` `.withMaxDigits(3)`

Precisely, the option starts with one or more @ symbols. Then it contains either a *, for ::withMinDigits, or one or more # symbols, for ::withMaxDigits. If a # symbol is present, there must be only one @ symbol.

Significant Digits Precision

The following are examples of stems for significant figures:

Stem	Explanation	Equivalent C++ Code
`@@@`	Exactly 3 significant digits	`Precision::fixedSignificantDigits(3)`
`@@@*`	At least 3 significant digits	`Precision::minSignificantDigits(3)`
`@##`	At most 3 significant digits	`Precision::maxSignificantDigits(3)`
`@@#`	Between 2 and 3 significant digits	`...::minMaxSignificantDigits(2, 3)`

The precise syntax is very similar to fraction precision. The blueprint stem starts with one or more @ symbols, which implies the minimum significant digits. Then it contains either a *, for unlimited maximum significant digits, or zero or more # symbols, which implies the minimum significant digits when added to the @ symbols.

Wildcard Character

Prior to ICU 67, the symbol + was used for unlimited precision, instead of * (for example, .00+). For backwards compatibility, either + or * is accepted. This applies for both fraction digits and significant digits.

Rounding Mode

The rounding mode can be specified by the following stems:

rounding-mode-ceiling
rounding-mode-floor
rounding-mode-down
rounding-mode-up
rounding-mode-half-even
rounding-mode-half-down
rounding-mode-half-up
rounding-mode-unnecessary

For more details, see Rounding Modes.

Integer Width

The following examples show how to specify integer width (minimum or maximum integer digits):

Long Form	Concise Form	Explanation	Equivalent C++ Code
`integer-width/*000`	`000`	At least 3 integer digits	`IntegerWidth::zeroFillTo(3)`
`integer-width/##0`	-	Between 1 and 3 integer digits	`IntegerWidth::zeroFillTo(1)` `.truncateAt(3)`
`integer-width/00`	-	Exactly 2 integer digits	`IntegerWidth::zeroFillTo(2)` `.truncateAt(2)`
`integer-width/*`	-	Zero or more integer digits	`IntegerWidth::zeroFillTo(0)`

The long-form option starts with either a single * symbol, signaling no limit on the number of integer digits (no truncateAt), or zero or more # symbols. It should then be followed by zero or more 0 symbols, indicating the minimum integer digits (the argument to zeroFillTo). If there is no * symbol, the maximum integer digits (the argument to truncateAt) is the number of # symbols plus the number of 0 symbols.

The concise skeleton is simply one or more 0 characters. This supports minimum integer digits but not maximum integer digits.

Prior to ICU 67, use the symbol + instead of *.

Scale

To specify the scale, use the following stem and option:

scale/dddd

where dddd is a decimal number. For example, the following are valid skeletons:

scale/100 (multiply by 100)
scale/1E2 (same as above)
scale/0.5 (multiply by 0.5)

The decimal number should conform to a standard decimal number syntax. In C++, it is parsed using the decimal number library described in LocalizedNumberFormatter::formatDecimal. In Java, it is parsed using BigDecimal. For maximum compatibility, it is highly recommended that your decimal number is able to be parsed by both engines.

Grouping

The grouping strategy can be specified by the following stems:

group-off or ,_ (concise)
group-min2 or ,? (concise)
group-auto (or omit since this is the default)
group-on-aligned or ,! (concise)
group-thousands (no concise equivalent)

For more details, see UNumberGroupingStrategy.

Symbols

The following stems are allowed for specifying the number symbols:

latin (use Latin-script digits)
numbering-system/nnnn (use the nnnn numbering system)

A custom NDecimalFormatSymbols instance is not supported at this time.

Sign Display

The following stems specify sign display:

sign-auto (or omit since this is the default)
sign-always or +! (concise)
sign-never or +_ (concise)
sign-accounting or () (concise)
sign-accounting-always or ()! (concise)
sign-except-zero or +? (concise)
sign-accounting-except-zero or ()? (concise)

For more details, see UNumberSignDisplay.

Decimal Separator Display

The following stems specify decimal separator display:

decimal-auto
decimal-always

For more details, see UNumberDecimalSeparatorDisplay.