Preprocessor built-in functions

A function reference can invoke one of a set of predefined functions called preprocessor built-in functions. These built-in functions are invoked in the same way that programmer-defined functions are invoked, except that they must be invoked with the correct number of arguments.

These are the preprocessor built-in functions:

The preprocessor executes a reference to a preprocessor built-in function in input text only if the built-in function name is active. The built-in functions can be activated by a %DECLARE or %ACTIVATE statement.

In preprocessor statements, the preprocessor built-in function names are always active as built-in functions unless they are declared with some other meaning.

If a preprocessor built-in function name is used as the name of a user-defined preprocessor procedure, references to the name are references to the procedure, not to the built-in function. In such cases, the identifiers must be declared with the BUILTIN attribute when the built-in function is to be used within a preprocessor procedure.

The following preprocessor built-in functions do not require arguments and must not be given a null argument: