Rexx - DataType

This method returns the value of ‘NUM’ if the input is a valid number else it will return the value of ‘CHAR’. You can also specify if you want to compare the input value to a NUM or CHAR value. In each case, the value returned will be either 1 or 0 depending on the result.

Syntax

DATATYPE(String,type) 

Parameters

• String − The string value for which the datatype needs to be determined.

• Type − Optional type against which the datatype need to be compared to.

Return Value

This method returns the value of ‘NUM’ if the input is a valid number else it will return the value of ‘CHAR’. You can also specify if you want to compare the input value to a NUM or CHAR value. In each case, the value returned will be either 1 or 0 depending on the result.

Example

/* Main program */ 
say DATATYPE(" 12345 ") 
say DATATYPE("") 
say DATATYPE("12345*") 
say DATATYPE("123.4","N") 
say DATATYPE("123.4","W")

When we run the above program we will get the following result.

Output

NUM 
CHAR 
CHAR 
1 
0