Editing Binary-coded decimal (section)

===Fixed-point packed decimal===
[[Fixed-point arithmetic|Fixed-point]] decimal numbers are supported by some programming languages (such as COBOL and PL/I). These languages allow the programmer to specify an implicit decimal point in front of one of the digits.

For example, a packed decimal value encoded with the bytes 12 34 56 7C represents the fixed-point value +1,234.567 when the implied decimal point is located between the fourth and fifth digits:
 12 34 56 7C
 ''12 34.56 7+''

The decimal point is not actually stored in memory, as the packed BCD storage format does not provide for it. Its location is simply known to the compiler, and the generated code acts accordingly for the various arithmetic operations.