726 Appendix B
Expression Evaluator Functions
Table B-1 Expression Evaluator Functions
Symbol Function Example Result
+(numeric) addition 4 + 5 9
+(string) concatenate “abc‘ + “de‘ abcde
-(numeric) subtraction 12 - 6 6
-(string) deletion of first
occurrence
“abc‘ - “b‘ ac
* multiplication 4 * 5 20
/ integer division 79/ 10 7
ˆ exponentiation
(9)
2ˆ3 8
either “ or ‘ string identifier either “abc‘ or “abc‘ abc
() parentheses (3 + 4) * 2 14
< less than (1) 5 < 6 TRUE
<= less than or
equal (1)
“abc‘ <= “abc‘ TRUE
> greater than (1) “xyz‘ > “abc‘ TRUE
>= greater than or
equal (1)
“abc‘>= “abc‘ TRUE
<> not equal 5 <> 6 TRUE
= equal "xyz"= "xyz" TRUE
ABS(integer) absolute value abs(-4) 4
ALPHA(string) check if a string
is alphabetic
alpha('abcd')
alpha('ab3d ef')
TRUE
FALSE
ALPHANUM(string) check if a string
is only
alphabetics and
digits
alphanum('abCd')
alphanum('45abd')
alphanum('3d ef')
TRUE
TRUE
FALSE
AND logical and 7=7 and 5=5 TRUE
ANYPARM
BAND bitwise and 7 band 13 5
