FAO

     Invokes the Formatted ASCII Output (FAO) system service to convert a
     control string to a formatted ASCII output (FAO) string.  By specifying
     arguments for each FAO directive 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 string.

  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.  A maximum of 127 FAO parameters are
                allowed.  See the VMS System Services Reference Manual for
                more information on the Formatted ASCII Output (FAO) system
                service.

  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;