Expression Wizard - Select Function
The Function button allows you to choose from a variety of functions to build your expressions. Function categories include:
Navigating to a specific function is easy. Narrow down your results by selecting a particular category. If you do not know what category the function is in, select "All" and scroll through the functions. The functions are listed in alphabetical order.
Expression Wizard - Select Function
Date & time Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| CALCDATE(DT,D,M,Y): | Adds D days, M months and Y years to a given date DT. Ex: CALCDATE(ArgosData.Your_Date, 2, 4, 6) |
Date |
| CALCTIME(T,H,M,S): | Adds H hours, M minutes and S seconds to a given time T. Ex: CALCTIME(ArgosData.Your_Time, 2, 4, 6) |
String |
| DATE: | Returns current date when report is executed. | String |
| DAYOFWEEK(D): | Returns the day of the week (1 - 7) for a given date. Ex: DAYOFWEEK(ArgosData.Your_Date) |
Integer |
| DAYSTRING(D): | Returns the day name for the given day (1=Sunday,2=). Often used with DAYOFWEEK. Ex: DAYSTRING(1) or DAYSTRING(DAYOFWEEK(ArgosData.Your_Date)) |
String |
| EXTRACTDAY(Date): | Returns the day of the month (1 - 31) from a given date.
Ex: EXTRACTDAY(ArgosData.Your_Date) |
Integer |
| EXTRACTHOUR(<TIME>) | Returns the hour from a given time. | Integer |
| EXTRACTMINUTE(<TIME>) | Returns the minute from a given time. | Integer |
| EXTRACTMONTH(Date): | Returns the month from a given date. Ex: EXTRACTMONTH(ArgosData.Your_Date) |
Integer |
| EXTRACTSECOND(<TIME>) | Returns the second from a given time. | Integer |
| EXTRACTYEAR(Date): | Returns the year from a given date. Ex: EXTRACTYEAR(ArgosData.Your_Date) |
Integer |
| FORMATDATE(<DATE,<FMT>) |
Converts a date to a string.
Ex: FORMATDATE(NOW,'mm/dd/yyyy h:mm:ss ampm'); Result is 12/08/2014 3:22:40 PM |
String |
| INCDAY(<DATE>,<AMT>) | Increments the date parameter by the specified number of days. | Date |
| INCHOUR(<TIME>,<AMT>) | Increments the time parameter by the specified number of hours. | Date |
| INCMINUTE(<TIME>,<AMT>) | Increments the time parameter by the specified number of minutes. | Date |
| INCMONTH(<DATE>,<AMT>) | Increments the date parameter by the specified number of months. | Date |
| INCSECOND(<TIME>,<AMT>) | Increments the time parameter by the specified number of seconds. | Date |
| INCYEAR(<DATE>,<AMT>) | Increments the date parameter by the specified number of years. | Date |
| MONTHSTRING(M): | Returns the month name for the given month M (1..12). Often used with EXTRACTMONTH. Ex: MONTHSTRING(1) or MONTHSTRING(EXTRACTMONTH (ArgosData.Your_Date)) |
String |
| NOW | Returns the current date and time. | Date |
| PRINTDATE: | Returns the date when report is executed. | String |
| TIME: | Returns the current system time as a string. | String |
| WEEKOFYEAR(<DATE>) | Returns week number (1-52) from given a date. Ex: WEEKOFYEAR(ArgosData.Your_Date) |
Integer |
Math & trig Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| ABS(X): | Returns the absolute value of X. Ex: ABS(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
| DIV(X,Y): | Returns X divided by Y, without the remainder. Ex: DIV(ArgosData.Some_Number, ArgosData.Some_Other_Number) |
Integer |
| FRAC(X): | Returns the fractional part of X. Ex: FRAC(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
| INT(X): | Returns the integer part of X. Ex: INT(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Integer |
| POWER(<X>,<Y>) | Returns the first argument raised to the power of the second. | Float |
| ROUND(X,Y) | Rounds X to the specified number of digits. Y is the number of digits to which you want to round the number. If Y is greater than zero, the number is rounded to the specified number of decimal places. If Y is zero, the number is rounded to the nearest integer. If Y is less than zero, the number is rounded to the left of the decimal point. Ex: ROUND(ArgosData.Some_Number,2) |
Float |
| SQRT(X): | Returns the square-root of X. Ex: SQRT(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
Statistical Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| AVERAGE(X): | Returns the average of X. In a detail band, this function will return the average of the numbers up to the current detail record. In a summary band, it will return the average of all of records. Ex: AVERAGE(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
| COUNT: | Returns the current increment for each iteration. | Integer |
| MAX(X): | Returns the highest X. In a detail band, MAX will return the highest X up to the current record. In a summary band, MAX will return the highest X from all the records. Ex: MAX(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
| MIN(X): | Returns the lowest X. In a detail band, MIN will return the lowest X up to the current record. In a summary band, MIN will return the lowest X from all the records. Ex: MIN(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
| SUM(X): | Returns the summation of X. In a detail band, it will return the sum of X up to the current record. In a summary band, SUM will return the sum of all records. Ex: SUM(ArgosData.Some_Number) |
Float |
Database Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| COLUMNO: | Returns the current column number. | Integer |
| DETAILCOUNT: | Returns the number of detail records. Detail Count is the total number of records printed or displayed in your detail band in your report. The number will always be the same no matter what band you place it in. They are counted before they are printed. | Integer |
| DETAILNO: | Returns the current detail record number. Detail Number is a cumulative count of all the records printed or displayed in your detail band. If you put Detail Number in your report summary band, it will be the same as Detail Count. If you put it in a page footer band it will be the total number of records printed so far. | Integer |
| EOF(TABLE): | Returns TRUE if there are no more records in the dataset. Returns FALSE otherwise. The last detail band will show FALSE because the cursor has not moved past the last record. Ex: EOF('ArgosData') |
Boolean |
| FIELDLEN(TABLE, FIELD): | Returns the length of datafield. Ex: FIELDLEN('ArgosData','DataFieldName') |
Integer |
| ISEMPTY(TABLE, FIELD): | Returns TRUE if field contains an empty string. FALSE if field contains data. Ex: ISEMPTY('ArgosData',' DataFieldName ') |
Boolean |
| ISNULL(TABLE, FIELD): | Returns TRUE if field is null. FALSE if field is not null. Ex: ISNULL('ArgosData',' DataFieldName ') |
Boolean |
| MEMOLINE(TABLE, FIELD, LINENO) | Returns a single line (1..n) from a memo field. Ex: MEMOLINE('CustTable','Info',1) |
String |
| RECORDCOUNT(<DS>) | Returns a dataset's record count. | Integer |
Logical Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| FALSE: | Returns Boolean FALSE. | Boolean |
| IF(Exp, X, Y): | Returns X if expression Exp is TRUE. Returns Y otherwise. You can use database fields, other functions or plain text as your values for X and Y. IF statements can also be nested within other IF statements. Ex: IF(DataField1 = 23, DataField2, Print this text) |
Expression |
| TRUE: | Returns Boolean TRUE. | Boolean |
Informational Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| TYPEOF(Exp): | Returns the data type of expression Exp. Ex: TYPEOF('Expression2') where 'Expression2' is a name of an expression field. |
String |
Other Functions
| Function | Description | Returns |
|---|---|---|
| CHR(I): | Converts the ordinal ASCII value to a character. Ex: CHR (ArgosData.DataField) |
String |
| COPY (X, St, Len): | Returns the substring of string X at start position St of length Len. Like SUBSTR in oracle. Ex: COPY (ArgosData.DataField, 1, 30) |
String |
| COUNTER: | Returns the current count. Increments each time it is printed. | Integer |
| CURRENCY: | Returns Windows default currency. | String |
| DATEDIFF (D1, D2): | Returns the difference of days from date D1 to date D2. Ex: DATEDIFF (ArgosData.Your_Date1, ArgosData.Your_Date2) |
Float |
| ELEMENTEXISTS (Name): | Returns TRUE if an element exists in the report. Ex: ELEMENTEXISTS ('band2') where 'band2' is a name of a band in the report. |
Boolean |
| FORMATNUMERIC (F, N): | Returns number N formatted in format F. Ex: FORMATNUMERIC ('$###,###.##', ArgosData. Your_Numeric_DataField) formats the number 12345.678 to '$12,345.68' |
String |
| GETEXPR(<exprname>) | Retrieves the value of the expression. | Depends on expression |
| GETVARIABLE(<X>) | Retrieve the value of an Argos variable. | Depends on variable |
| INSERTSTR (Source,Insert): | Inserts string Insert into string Source at position specified by '%s'. Ex: INSERTSTR ('%s World', 'Hello') will return 'Hello World'. |
String |
| LEFTSTR (STR, LEN): | Returns the left LEN number of characters of string STR. Ex: LEFTSTR ('Hello World', 4) will print 'Hell'. |
String |
| LOWER (X): | Returns string X in lowercase letters. Ex: LOWER (ArgosData. Datafield) |
String |
| NEWPAGE: | Forces a page feed. | N/A |
| PADLEFT (S, Len): | Returns string S padded to the left with spaces to make S Len characters long. Ex: PADLEFT (ArgosData. DataField,10) |
String |
| PADLEFTZERO (S, Len): | Returns string S padded to the left with '0' to make string S Len characters long Ex: PADLEFTZERO (ArgosData. DataField,10) |
String |
| PADRIGHT (S, Len): | Returns string S padded to the right with spaces to make S Len characters long. Ex: PADRIGHT (ArgosData. DataField,10) |
String |
| PAGECOUNT: | Returns the total number of pages printed in the report. | Integer |
| PAGENUMBER: | Returns the current page number in the report. | Integer |
| PIXELS (X): | Converts the number X into pixels. Ex: PIXELS (5) or PIXELS (ArgosData. Your_Numeric_DataField) |
Integer |
| PRETTY (X): | Capitalizes the first character of string X. Ex: PRETTY (ArgosData. Datafield) |
String |
| PROPEXISTS(<element>, <Property>) | Checks if property exists for a given report element. | Boolean |
| RESETEXPR (exprname): | Resets aggregated expression exprname. Note: Due to the nature of this function, it cannot be placed as an argument within the IF function. Ex: RESETEXPR (Expression2). To view a detailed example of how to use this function, see Reset counter example |
N/A |
| RGBCOLOR (RED, GREEN, BLUE): | Converts RGB color values to a decimal color value. For use with functions SETCOLOR and SETFONTCOLOR. Ex: RGBCOLOR (01,31,71) |
Integer |
| RIGHTSTR (STR, LEN): | Returns the LEN rightmost characters of string STR. Ex: RIGHTSTR (ArgosData.DataField, 3) |
String |
| SETCOLOR (Element,Color): | Sets a band's background color. Use function RGBCOLOR to get Color. Right click expression and uncheck 'Enabled' to not print the Boolean value. Ex: SETCOLOR ('Band2', RGBCOLOR (12,13,99)) |
Boolean |
| SETFONT (Element, Fontname): | Sets a report element's font. TRUE will be returned if the function executes properly. Right click expression and uncheck 'Enabled' to not print the Boolean value. Does not work for band elements. Ex: SETFONT (Reportlabel2, Arial) |
Boolean |
| SETFONTCOLOR (Element, Color): | Sets a report element's font color. Use function RGBCOLOR to get Color. TRUE will be returned if the function executes properly. Right click expression and uncheck 'Enabled' to not print the Boolean value. Does not work for band elements. Ex: SETFONTCOLOR ('txtLable1', RGBCOLOR(04,04,03)) |
Boolean |
| SETFONTSIZE (Element, Size): | Sets a report element's font size. TRUE will be returned if the function executes properly. Right click expression and uncheck 'Enabled' to not print the Boolean value. Does not work for band elements. Ex: SETFONT (Reportlabel2, 18) |
Boolean |
| SETFONTSTYLE (Element, Bold, Italic, Underl, Strike): | Sets a report element's font style. TRUE will be returned if the function executes properly. Right click expression and uncheck 'Enabled' to not print the Boolean value. Does not work for band elements. Ex: SETFONTSTYLE ('ReportLabel2', TRUE, FALSE, TRUE, TRUE) |
Boolean |
| STR(X): | Converts number X to string data type. Ex: STR (ArgosData. Your_Numeric_Datafield) |
String |
| STRETCHSR (S,L): | Inserts L spaces between each character of string S. Used to "stretch" a string. Ex: STRETCHSTR (ArgosData. DataField, 6) |
String |
| STRLEN (S): | Returns the length of string S. Ex: STRLEN (ArgosData. Datafield) |
Integer |
| STRTOINT (X): | Converts a valid integer string to integer data type. Ex: STRTOINT (ArgosData. DataField) |
Integer |
| STRTONUM (X): | Converts a valid number string to a number data type. Ex: STRTONUM (ArgosData. DataField) |
Float |
| TRIM(S): | Returns string S without leading and trailing spaces. Ex: TRIM (ArgosData. DataField) |
String |
| UPPER (X): | Returns string X in uppercase letters. Ex: UPPER (ArgosData. DataField) |
String |
See also: Getting Started with Banded Reports