The class and characteristics of a function, and the number and types of
arguments it requires, are determined by its function definition. These characteristics
include:
- For some functions, the class and characteristics are determined by the
arguments to the function
- For alphanumeric functions, the size of the returned value
IBM Extension
- For DBCS functions, the size of the returned value
- For date-time functions, the length of the returned value
- For numeric and integer functions, the sign of the returned value, and
whether the function is integer
- The actual value returned by the function.
End of IBM Extension
The evaluation of any intrinsic function is not affected by the context
in which it appears; in other words, function evaluation is not affected by
operations or operands outside the function. However, evaluation of a function
can be affected by the attributes of its arguments.