Here is the screenshot where we used to get the format(s)

One can choose the format for required fields in this screen.   These values are stored in database, which will be retrieved on application start up and applied wherever required.   We have an event for that in ancestor window.  In that event, in child window, we code like this

dw_list.Modify('insertdate.editmask.mask = "' + ls_datetime_editmask + '"')
dw_list.Modify('insertdate.editmask.useformat = "yes"' )
dw_list.Modify('insertdate.format = "' + ls_datetime_format + '"')

dw_entry.Modify('openingdebit.format = "' + ls_decimal_format_screen + '"')
dw_entry.Modify('openingcredit.format = "' + ls_decimal_format_screen + '"')

Here we never touch the registry or windows settings.   

HTH

Happiness Always
BKR Sivaprakash

Thanks for the reply.

The changes I want to make are in number format, currency format, and date format.

But I would like to be able to tell my app what the format is and not take the Windows one. That saves me windows configuration issues and avoids problems with other desktop applications that need different regional configuration.

Is there a way to do it without modifying the registry?

Hi.

In the past, there was a client who needed our application to run with some regional settings altered. For example: they wanted to use as decimal separator "." instead of "," which is the default in Greek regional settings. But they wanted this change to happen only in our application.

Before mentioning how we achieved that, I will mention that most applications read those settings when they are initially loaded. As a result if those settings change while a powerbuilder application is running, from what we experienced, powerbuilder application ins't aware of those changes.

As a result, we built a small exe which did customized regional settings (altering registry) and right away called (using run command) our main application. Our main application was reverting those changes back to original settings (altering again registry), but as it was already launched it wasn't affected by that change.

I don't know what regional settings you need to modify for your application. Depending on what you need to do, what we did may or may not work for you.

Andreas.