ABS
Synopsis
ABS(numeric-expression) {fn ABS(numeric-expression)}
Arguments
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| numeric-expression | A number whose absolute value is to be returned. |
Description
ABS returns the absolute value, which is always zero or a positive number. ABS returns the same data type as numeric-expression. If numeric-expression is not a number (for example, the string 'abc', or the empty string '') ABS returns 0. ABS returns <null> when passed a NULL value.
Note that ABS can be used as an ODBC scalar function (with the curly brace syntax) or as an SQL general function.
This function can also be invoked from ObjectScript using the ABS()Opens in a new tab method call:
WRITE $SYSTEM.SQL.ABS(-0099)Examples
The following example shows the two forms of ABS:
SELECT ABS(-99) AS AbsGen,{fn ABS(-99)} AS AbsODBCboth returns 99.
The following examples show how ABS handles some other numbers. Caché SQL converts numeric-expression to canonical form, deleting leading and trailing zeros and evaluating exponents, before invoking ABS.
SELECT ABS(007) AS AbsoluteValuereturns 7.
SELECT ABS(-0.000) AS AbsoluteValuereturns 0.
SELECT ABS(-99E4) AS AbsoluteValuereturns 990000.
SELECT ABS(-99E-4) AS AbsoluteValue
returns .0099.
