You should be able to store the format in the table in its own field and call it for the display.

Lets say you have 2 fields in the table, one called [Number] and the other [Format]

For this example we will use a phone number.
[Number] = "1231231234"
[Format] = "(###)###-####"

Okay since I don't know what Database or what you are using to access it, I will be generic, if you give me an example, I will show you the real thing.

txtNumber.Text = Format(DB.Number, DB.Format)

And there you go...

Here is a non-database version of the same thing...

Dim Number$
Dim FormatPhone$

Dim Display$

Number$ = "1231231234"
FormatPhone$ = "(###)###-####"

Display$ = Format(Number$, FormatPhone$)

MsgBox Display$

Jason