function scale() {
  if (this.exp>=0)
   return 0; // scale can never be negative
  return -this.exp;
  }
Returns the scale of this <code>BigDecimal</code>.
Returns a non-negative <code>int</code> which is the scale of the
number. The scale is the number of digits in the decimal part of
the number if the number were formatted without exponential
notation.

@return An <code>int</code> whose value is the scale of this
        <code>BigDecimal</code>.
@stable ICU 2.0