The '-' sign does not display when labeling negative values

Description

When labeling features with the Maplex Labeling Engine, the '-' character does not display in the label.

When the option to make this character visible is checked in the stacking options and a numeric field is labeled, the negative sign still does not display in the label.

Cause

By default, Maplex attempts to stack labels and the '-' sign is one of the characters used to determine where to break the label and stack.

In the case of negative numbers, the '-' sign is interpreted as a stacking character and not displayed in the label.

Workaround

• Turn off the stack label option.
  
  
  1. Open the layer properties.
  2. Click the label tab.
  3. Open the placement properties.
  4. Click the label fitting strategy tab.
  5. Check off the stack label option.
  
  
• Remove the '-' character from the stacking options.
  
  
  1. Open the layer properties
  2. Click the label tab.
  3. Open the placement properties.
  4. Click the label fitting strategy tab.
  5. Click Options next to Stack Labels.
  6. Highlight the ‘-‘ Stacking Character in the drop-down menu.
  7. Click Delete.