Miscellaneous Functions; Testing Input With Built-In Functions - IBM SC34-5764-01 Manual

Function Description
WORDPOS Returns the word number of the first word of a specified phrase in the input string.
WORDS Returns the number of words in the input string.

Miscellaneous Functions

Function Description
ADDRESS Returns the name of the environment to which commands are currently being sent.
ARG Returns an argument string or information about the argument strings to a program or internal
routine.
BITAND Returns a string composed of the two input strings logically ANDed together, bit by bit.
BITOR Returns a string composed of the two input strings logically ORed together, bit by bit.
BITXOR Returns a string composed of the two input strings eXclusive ORed together, bit by bit.
CONDITION Returns the condition information, such as name and status, associated with the current trapped
condition.
DATE Returns the date in the default format (dd mon yyyy) or in one of various optional formats.
ERRORTEXT Returns the error message associated with the specified error number.
EXTERNALS This function always returns a 0.
LINESIZE Returns the width of the current output device.
QUEUED Returns the number of lines remaining in the external data queue at the time when the function
is called.
SOURCELINE Returns either the line number of the last line in the source file or the source line a number
specifies.
TIME Returns the local time in the default 24-hour clock format (hh:mm:ss) or in one of various
optional formats.
TRACE Returns the trace actions currently in effect.
1
USERID Returns the current user ID. This is the last user ID specified on the SETUID command, the
user ID of the calling REXX program if one program calls another, the user ID under which the
job is running, or the job name.
VALUE Returns the value of a specified symbol and optionally assigns it a new value.
XRANGE Returns a string of all 1-byte codes (in ascending order) between and including specified starting
and ending values.

Testing Input with Built-In Functions

Some of the built-in functions provide a convenient way to test input. When a program uses input, the user
might provide input that is not valid. For instance, in the example of using comparison expressions on
page 24, the program uses a dollar amount in the following instruction.
PARSE PULL yesterday /* Gets yesterday's price from input stream */
If the program pulls only a number, the program processes that information correctly. However, if the
program pulls a number preceded by a dollar sign or pulls a word, such as nothing, the program returns
an error. To avoid getting an error, you can check the input with the DATATYPE function as follows.
IF DATATYPE(yesterday) \= 'NUM'
THEN DO
SAY 'The input amount was in the wrong format.'
EXIT
END
Using Functions
Chapter 5. Using Functions
55