FAO

    Invokes the Formatted ASCII Output (FAO) system service to convert a
    control string to a formatted ASCII output string.  By specifying
    arguments for FAO directives in the control string, you can control the
    processing performed by the FAO system service.  The FAO built-in
    returns a string containing the formatted ASCII output.

 Syntax

    string2 := FAO (string1 [, FAO-params])

 Parameters

    string1    The fixed text of the output string and FAO directives.

    FAO_params In general, these parameters correspond to the FAO
               directives in string1.  See the VMS System Services
               Reference Manual for more information.

 Examples

    1.  date_time := FAO ("!%D",0);

        Stores in the variable DATE_TIME the current date and time.

    2.  The following procedure uses the FAO directive !SL in a control
        string to convert the number equated to the variable count into a
        string; the converted string is stored in the variable REPORT and
        then is written to the message area:

        PROCEDURE user_convert_fao
           count := 57;
           report := FAO ("number of forms = !SL", count);
           MESSAGE (report);
        ENDPROCEDURE;