Database Reference
In-Depth Information
UP TO SPEED: THE FUNCTION LIST
The function list doesn't show just a list of meaningless names—it also shows the syntax for the
function. This prototype function includes everything you need to call the function in a calculation:
name, the necessary parentheses, and a placeholder for each parameter. You just need to replace the
placeholders with fields, constants, functions, or expressions.
Most functions are simple, and have a simple example to match:
Date ( month ; day ; year )
This function, called Date, expects three parameters: a month, a day, and a year. (If you're curious, it
returns a date value based on the three numbers passed to it.)
The syntax of some other functions isn't as simple, and their syntax needs some explanation (you
won't learn how the functions work here; just focus on syntax for now). Some functions don't have
a predetermined number of parameters. The
Average()
function needs
at least
one parameter, but
you can pass as many as you want. It looks like this in the function list:
Average ( field {; field...} )
The first “field” parameter shows that you need to specify at least one value. The second one is in-
side curly braces, meaning it's optional. And it's followed by “…” meaning you can add more cop-
ies if you want.
The Case function shows up like this:
Case ( test1 ; result1 {; test2 ; result2
; ... ; defaultResult} )
This shows that you can add additional test and result parameters, and you can put a final
de-
faultResult
parameter on the end if you want.
Finally, a few functions actually accept more than one value for a single parameter. The
Evaluate()
function is an example:
Evaluate ( expression {; [field1 ; field2
;...]} )
It always expects one parameter, called an
expression
(see
Expressions
). You can also specify a field
to go with it. The curly braces around the fields show you that it can take two parameters, but the
second can be a square-bracketed list of multiple values. In other words, you can call this function in
three ways:
Evaluate ( "<some expression>" )
Evaluate ( "<some expression>" ; A Field )
Evaluate ( "<some expression>" ; [Field 1
; Field 2 ; Field 3] )
