Function Definition and Evaluation

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
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
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.