COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs

Intrinsic Functions

HP COBOL Manual for TNS and TNS/R Programs—522555-006

14-50

RANGE Function

RANGE is a function that returns the difference between its maximum and minimum

arguments. Its type depends on the type of its arguments, as this table shows:

argument

is an integer or numeric argument. Integer and numeric arguments can be mixed,

because integers are of the class numeric.

argument can be an array; for example,

FUNCTION RANGE (ARRAY1(ALL))

returns the difference between the largest and smallest elements of the array

ARRAY1.

The returned value is the value of the greatest argument minus the value of the least

argument (where the greatest and least arguments are determined according to the

rules for evaluating simple conditions). If two arguments have the same greatest value,

the leftmost of the two is considered the greatest. If two arguments have the same

least value, the leftmost of the two is considered the least.

Argument Type Function Type

Integer Integer

Numeric (some can be integer) Numeric

( )

RANGEFUNCTION argument

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