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ASSIGNED

Determines if a variable is assigned.

Synopsis

ASSIGNED(var)

Arguments

var A user variable. If var is not a valid variable name, MVBasic issues a syntax error.

Description

The ASSIGNED function determines whether a user variable is assigned or not assigned. If var is assigned a value, ASSIGNED returns 1. If var is not assigned a value, ASSIGNED returns 0. An assigned value can be a single value or a dynamic array value. ASSIGNED also returns 1 if var is assigned the empty string (""), or is assigned an unassigned variable.

The input var can be a local variable, a global variable, or a process-private global variable. It can be with or without subscripts.

Note:

ASSIGNED should not be used on system variables (@ variables). It always returns 0 for all @ variables, whether or not the @ variable currently has a value.

The UNASSIGNED function is the functional opposite of the ASSIGNED function.

The COMMON statement initializes variables as unassigned in Caché MVBasic. Array variable initialization varies with different MultiValue emulations.

You can use the $KILL statement to unassign variables.

Examples

The following example tests the assignment of several variables. ASSIGNED returns 1 (assigned) for variables a through f. ASSIGNED returns 0 (unassigned) for variable g.

a=123
b="fred"
c=1:@VM:2:@VM:3
d=""
e=NULL
f=g
PRINT ASSIGNED(a)
PRINT ASSIGNED(b)
PRINT ASSIGNED(c)
PRINT ASSIGNED(d)
PRINT ASSIGNED(e)
PRINT ASSIGNED(f)
PRINT ASSIGNED(g)

Note that variable f is considered assigned, even though it is assigned to an unassigned variable.

See Also

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