Caché ObjectScript Reference - InterSystems Documentation

Caché ObjectScript FunctionsA function performs an operation and returns a value. This value may be the result of theoperation, or an indicator that the operation completed successfully or failed. By convention,Caché functions that set a variable to a value set the variable, then return the value of thatvariable prior to the operation.This document describes Caché-supplied (intrinsic) functions. These functions are identifiedby a $ character prefix to the name and parentheses following the name. You can supplementthese functions by creating user-defined (extrinsic) functions (identified by a $$ prefix). Inthis manual, Caché ObjectScript intrinsic functions are divided into four groups:• General Functions.• Math and Time/Date Functions (the names of which begin with “$Z”.).• System and Other Functions (the names of which begin with “$Z”, and include the$ZUTIL functions.)• Legacy (obsolete) Functions.The names of Caché ObjectScript special variables also begin with a $ character, but specialvariables have no parentheses.For more information on Caché ObjectScript functions generally, see the Functions chapterof Using Caché ObjectScript; for more information on defining your own functions, see User-Defined Code in Using Caché ObjectScript.To invoke an intrinsic function, use the form:$name(parameters)Caché ObjectScript Reference 177