Functions

Functions

A function is used to evaluate one or more arguments and return a result which is then taken into consideration when evaluating the overall truth of the expression.

Function calls start with a the character @ which is followed by the function name and a comma separated list of parenthesized parameters, for example @MIN(1, 2, 3) .

Function names must be specified in UPPER CASE as shown in the examples below.

The following functions are supported by the if statement:

Numeric functions

MIN

@MIN(number, number [, number ...])

Return the smallest number from the specified list (requires at least 2 arguments)

Examples:

  • @MIN(1,2) returns 1

  • @MIN(1,2,-3) returns -3

  • @MIN(1,2,"-1") returns -1 - string "-1" is converted to number -1

  • @MIN(1,2,3/6) returns 0.5

  • @MIN(1,2,"3/6") returns 1 - string "3/6" is converted to number 3, up to first invalid character

  • @MIN(1,2,"zzz") returns 0 - string "zzz" is converted to number 0

MAX

@MAX(number, number [, number ...])

Return the largest number from the specified list (requires at least 2 arguments)

Examples:

  • @MAX(1,2) returns 2

  • @MAX(-1,-2,-3) returns -1

  • @MAX(1,2,100/10) returns 10

ROUND

@ROUND(number [, digits])

Returns number rounded to digits decimal places. If the digits argument is not specified then the function will round to the nearest integer.

This function rounds half away from zero, e.g. 0.5 is rounded to 1, and -0.5 is rounded to -1

Be careful not to confuse the ROUND function with the round statement.

Examples:

  • @ROUND(3.1415,3) returns 3.142

  • @ROUND(3.1415,2) returns 3.14

  • @ROUND(3.1415926536,6) returns 3.141593

  • @ROUND(3.1415) returns 3

  • @ROUND(2.71828) returns 3

String functions

CONCAT

@CONCAT(string1, string2 [, stringN ...])

This function will treat all its arguments as strings, concatenate them and return the result.

Examples:

  • @CONCAT("the answer ", "is") returns the answer is

  • @CONCAT("the answer ", "is", " 42") returns the answer is 42

  • @CONCAT("the answer ", "is", " ", 42) returns the answer is 42

SUBSTR

@SUBSTR(string, start [, length])

Return a sub-string of string, starting from the character at position start and continuing until the end of the string end until the character at position length, whichever is shorter.

If length is omitted, then the portion of the string starting at position start and ending at the end of the string is returned.

Examples:

  • @SUBSTR("abcdef", 1) returns abcdef

  • @SUBSTR("abcdef", 3) returns cdef

  • @SUBSTR("abcdef", 3, 2) returns cd

  • @SUBSTR("abcdef", 3, 64) returns cdef

STRLEN

@STRLEN(string)

Returns the length of its argument in bytes.

Examples:

  • @STRLEN("foo") returns 3

  • @STRLEN(@CONCAT("ab", "cd")) returns 4

  • @STRLEN(1000000) returns 7 (the number 1000000 is treated as a string)

PAD

@PAD(width, value [, pad_char])

This function returns value, left-padded with pad_char (0 by default) up to specified width. If width is less than or equal to the width of value, no padding occurs.

Examples:

  • @PAD(5, 123) returns 00123

  • @PAD(5, 12345) returns 12345

  • @PAD(1, 12345) returns 12345

  • @PAD(5, top, Z) returns ZZtop

EXTRACT_BEFORE

@EXTRACT_BEFORE(string, pattern)

This function returns the substring of string that precedes the pattern. If pattern cannot be found in the string, or either string or pattern are empty, result of the function is empty string.

Examples:

  • @EXTRACT_BEFORE("abcdef", "d") returns ab

  • @EXTRACT_BEFORE("abcbc", "bc") returns a

  • @EXTRACT_BEFORE("abcdef", "x") returns empty string

EXTRACT_AFTER

@EXTRACT_AFTER(string, pattern)

This function returns the substring of string that follows the pattern. If pattern cannot be found in the string, or either string or pattern are empty, result of the function is empty string.

Examples:

  • @EXTRACT_AFTER("abcdef", "cd") returns ef

  • @EXTRACT_AFTER("abcabc", "ab") returns cabc

  • @EXTRACT_AFTER("abcdef", "abb") returns empty string

EXTRACT_XXX functions can be combined to extract the middle part of the string, for example @EXTRACT_AFTER(@EXTRACT_BEFORE("abcdef", "ef"), "ab") returns cd.

Date functions

All date functions operate with dates in yyyyMMdd format

CURDATE

@CURDATE([format])

Returns the current (actual) date in the timezone of the Exivity server. The format may be any valid combination of strftime specifiers. The default format is %Y%m%d which returns a date in yyyyMMdd format.

Examples (assuming run date is 1 July 2019, at 12:34:56):

  • @CURDATE() returns 20190701

  • @CURDATE(\"%d-%b-%y\") returns 01-Jul-19

  • @CURDATE("%H:%M:%S") returns 12:34:56

  • @CURDATE("%u") returns 1 (weekday - Monday)

  • @CURDATE("%j") returns 182 (day of the year)

DATEADD

@DATEADD(date, days)

Adds a specified number of days to the given date, returning the result as a yyyyMMdd date.

Invalid dates are normalised, where possible (see example below):

Examples:

  • @DATEADD(20180101, 31) returns 20180201

  • @DATEADD(20180101, 1) returns 20180102

  • @DATEADD(20171232, 1) returns 20180102 (the invalid date 20171232 is normalised to 20180101)

  • @DATEADD(20180101, 365) returns 20190101

DATEDIFF

@DATEDIFF(end_date, start_date)

Returns the difference in days between two yyyyMMdd dates. A positive result means that date1 is later than date2. A negative result means that date2 is later than date1. A result of 0 means that the two dates are the same.

Invalid dates are normalised, when possible (see example below):

Examples:

  • @DATEDIFF(20190101, 20180101) returns 365

  • @DATEDIFF(20180201, 20180101) returns 31

  • @DATEDIFF(20180102, 20180101) returns 1

  • @DATEDIFF(20180101, 20180102) returns -1

  • @DATEDIFF(20180101, 20180101) returns 0

  • @DATEDIFF(20171232, 20180101) returns 0 (the invalid date 20171232 is normalised to 20180101)

DTADD

@DTADD(datetime, count [, unit])

This function adds count number of unit_s (DAYS by default) to the specified datetime value and return normalised result datetime value in YYYYMMDDhhmmss_ format.

Datetime can be in any of the following formats:

  • YYYYMMDD

  • YYYYMMDDhh

  • YYYYMMDDhhmm

  • YYYYMMDDhhmmss

All missing bits of datetime value assumed zeros.

Supported units are (both singular and plural spellings supported):

  • YEAR

  • MONTH

  • DAY (default)

  • HOUR

  • MINUTE

  • SECOND

Example

  • @DTADD(20190701, 2) returns 20190703000000

  • @DTADD(20190701, 2, HOURS) returns 20190701020000

  • @DTADD(2019070112, 50, DAYS) returns 20190820120000

  • @DTADD(20190701123456, 10, MONTH) returns 20200501123456

Transcript-specific functions

Transcript-specific functions may be preceded with an exclamation mark in order to negate their output. For example:

if (!@COLUMN_EXISTS("colName")) {
   The column colName does NOT exist
}

FILE_EXISTS

@FILE_EXISTS(filename)

Returns 1 if the file filename exists, else returns 0.

FILE_EMPTY

@FILE_EMPTY(filename)

In strict mode, this function returns 1 if the file filename exists and is empty. If the file does not exist, then this is considered an error.

In permissive mode, a non-existent file is considered equivalent to an existing empty file.

In either case, if the file exists and is not empty, the function returns 0

FILE_EXISTS and FILE_EMPTY functions will only check files within Exivity home directory and its sub-directories, filename must contain pathname relative to Exivity home directory.

DSET_EXISTS

@DSET_EXISTS(dset.id)

Returns 1 if the specified DSET exists, else 0

DSET_EMPTY

In strict mode (option mode = strict), this function returns 1 if the specified DSET exists and is empty. If the DSET does not exist, then this is considered an error.

In permissive mode (option mode = permissive), a non-existent DSET is considered equivalent to an existing empty DSET.

In either case, if the DSET exists and is not empty, the function returns 0.

COLUMN_EXISTS

@COLUMN_EXISTS(column_name)

This function returns 1 if the specified column exists, else 0. The column name may be fully-qualified, but if it is not, then it is assumed to be in the default DSET.

DSET_ROWCOUNT

@DSET_ROWCOUNT(dset)

This function returns number of rows within specified DSET.

In permissive mode (option mode = permissive), a non-existent DSET is considered equivalent to an existing empty DSET, and zero is returned.

DSET_COLCOUNT

@DSET_COLCOUNT(dset)

This function returns number of columns within specified DSET.

In permissive mode (option mode = permissive), a non-existent DSET is considered equivalent to an existing empty DSET, and zero is returned.

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