Rexx Programmer's Reference

Appendix C. Functions

This appendix provides a reference to all Rexx functions, as defined by the ANSI-1996 standard. It also points out the important differences between the ANSI-1996 standard and the earlier standard defined by TRL-2. As this appendix is intended as a quick reference guide for developers, please see the full ANSI-1996 and TRL-2 standards if more detailed information is required. Appendix A tells where to obtain the two standards.

Each entry is identified by the name of the function. Entries contain a template of the function, showing its arguments, if any. Optional arguments are enclosed in brackets ([ ]). The template is followed by a description of the function and its use, the function's arguments, and possible return codes. Coding examples show how to code each function.

ABBREV

ABBREV(information, info [,length])

Returns 1 if info is equal to the leading characters of information and info is not less than the minimum length. Otherwise returns 0. If not specified, length defaults to the length of info.

Example

abbrev('Hello','He')   ==   1
abbrev('Hello','Hi')   ==   0
abbrev('Hello','Hi',3) ==   0  /* INFO does not meet minimum LENGTH. */

ABS

ABS(number)

Returns the absolute value of number, formatted according to the current setting of numeric digits and without a leading sign.

Example

abs(−0.47)    ==    0.47
abs(0)        ==    0

ADDRESS

ADDRESS()

Returns the name of the environment to which commands are currently directed.

The ANSI-1996 standard allows a new format for this function that specifies ...