IB Statements/abs

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ABS function

Syntax: ABS(numeric-argument)

Discussion: The ABS function returns the absolute value of a numeric argument. "Absolute value" is the magnitude of a numeric value, regardless of the sign of the value. Thus, the result of the ABS function will always be a positive number or zero.

The numeric-argument may be a numeric constant, a single-element numeric variable, a numeric array element, a numeric expression, or a numeric function.

The intermediate result of the ABS function is stored in an accumulator with the same precision as the numeric-argument. If this intermediate result is moved to a receiving numeric variable, its precision is automatically adjusted to the defined precision of that variable.

Example 1: A = ABS(B)

In the above example, the absolute value of numeric variable B is stored in numeric variable A.

For example, if B equals -27, then A equals 27 (the absolute value of -27).

Example 2: ON ABS(X) GOTO 100,200,300,400,500

In this example, the integer portion of the numeric variable X is used as the control variable for the ON/GOTO statement.

For example, if X equals -1, the absolute value equals 1, and the ON/GOTO statement will transfer the program to statement label 300.