Working with numbers

Introduction#

Progress ABL supports three number formats: 32 and 64 bit integers and floats.

Operators

Progress supports + / - * as operators. They cannot be overloaded. Division always returns a decimal. If any of the numbers in a calculation is a decimal a decimal will be returned. Otherwise an INTEGER or INT64.

There’s no += or ++ operator. To increase or decrease a variable you have to assign it to itself plus or minus something. So to add 1 to a variable you do: i = i + 1.

DEFINE VARIABLE i AS INTEGER     NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE j AS INTEGER     NO-UNDO.

i = 3.
j = 2.

DISPLAY i + j. // 3 + 2 = 5

DISPLAY i - j. // 3 - 2 = 1

DISPLAY i / j. // 3 / 2 = 1.5

DISPLAY INTEGER(i / j). //Integer(3/2) = 2.

DISPLAY i * j. //3 x 2 = 6

More mathematical functions

EXP - Returns the result of raising a number to a power.

EXP( base, exponent)

MESSAGE EXP(10, 2) VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX. // Messages 100

SQRT - Returns the square root of a number.

SQRT( number)

MESSAGE "The square root of 256 is " SQRT(256) VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX. // Messages 16

MODULO - Determines the remainder after division.

expression MODULO base

DISPLAY 52 MODULO 12. //Displays 4

ROUND - Rounds a decimal expression to a specified number of places after the decimal point.

ROUND( number, precision)

DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 6) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12345
DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 5) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12345
DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 4) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12350
DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 3) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12300
DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 2) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12000
DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 1) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.10000
DISPLAY ROUND(67.12345, 0) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.00000

TRUNCATE Truncates a decimal expression to a specified number of decimal places, returning a decimal value.

TRUNCATE( number, places)

DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 6) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12345
DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 5) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12345
DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 4) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12340
DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 3) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12300
DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 2) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.12000
DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 1) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.10000
DISPLAY TRUNCATE(67.12345, 0) FORMAT "99.99999". // 67.00000

ABSOLUTE - Returns the absolute value of a number

DISPLAY ABS(10 - 12). //Displays 2
DISPLAY ABS(-2) = ABS(2). //Displays yes

MINIMUM and MAXIMUM - returns the smalles and largest number

MINIMUM(number1, number2, … numbern)

MAXIMUM(number1, number2, … numbern)

DEFINE VARIABLE i AS INTEGER     NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE j AS INTEGER     NO-UNDO.
DEFINE VARIABLE k AS INTEGER     NO-UNDO.

i = 40.
j = 45.
k = 56.

DISPLAY MINIMUM(i, j, k) MAXIMUM(i, j, k). // Displays 40 and 56

Comparing numbers

There are standard functions built in for comparing equality, inequality etc.

Name	Symbol	Alternative	Example
Equal	=	EQ	i = j
Not equal	<>	NE	i <> j
Less than	<	LT	i < j
less than or equal	<=	LE	i <= j
Greater than	>=	GT	i > j
Greater than or equal	≥=	GE	i >= j

The symbol can be exchanged with the alternative and vice versa. So var1 <> var2 is the same thing as var1 NE var2.

You can compare a float with an integer but you cannot compare for instance a date with an integer.

Random number generator

RANDOM - generates a random number

RANDOM(low, high)

Generates a pseudo random integer between low and high

// Example that generates 20 random numbers between 1 and 20 (1 and 20 included)
DEFINE VARIABLE i AS INTEGER     NO-UNDO.

DO i = 1 TO 20.
    DISPLAY i RANDOM(1, 20).
    PAUSE.
END.