ROW function

The ROW function returns a line of data in cells, one after another in a single row. It is identical to the ROW command, except that it returns a text value, instead of sending the text to the current outfile.

The ROW function, just like the ROW command, consists of a series of column descriptions that specify the data to be returned and, optionally, the way in which it is to be formatted. The ROW function lets you assign the returned value to a text variable, send it to your current outfile with the SHOW or REPORT command, or process it further as an argument to one of the character manipulation functions.

Return Value

TEXT

Syntax

ROW([attribs] [ACROSS dimension [limit-clause]:] {exp1|SKIP} -

[[attribs] [ACROSS dimension [limit-clause]:] {expn|SKIP}])

See the ROW command for a complete description of the arguments.

The ROW function without any arguments returns a blank line.

Notes

ROW Command Attributes

You can use the same attributes that are available for the ROW command. Refer to the ROW command entry for a table of attributes that format the data and a table of functions that perform row and column arithmetic.

ROW Command Notes

The notes for the ROW command also apply to the ROW function.

Examples

Example 21-19 Assigning Output to a Text Variable

The following assignment statement assigns three lines of output to the text variable textvar.

textvar = ROW(OVER '-' UNDER '=' 'This is a Row.')
SHOW textvar

These statements produce the following output.

--------------
This is a Row.
==============

Example 21-20 Producing Multiple Rows of Output

You can use the ROW function with JOINLINES in a program to loop over a group of dimension values and assign several rows of data to a text variable. Instead of using the SHOW command in the following program excerpt, you could use the contents of textvar for some other purpose.

LIMIT month TO 'Jan95' 'Feb95'
LIMIT district TO 'Boston' 'Atlanta' 'Chicago'
textvar = NA
textvar = ROW(W 8 SKIP ACROSS month: <month SKIP>)
textvar = JOINLINES(textvar ROW(W 8 SKIP ACROSS month: -
   CENTER <'Sales' 'Plan'>))
FOR district
textvar = JOINLINES(textvar ROW(W 8  district ACROSS month: -
   <sales sales.plan>))
SHOW textvar

These statements produce the following output.

OUTPUT:
         Jan95                 Feb95
          Sales       Plan      Sales       Plan
Boston   32,153.52  42,346.89  32,536.30  43,265.50
Atlanta  40,674.20  54,583.41  44,236.55  57,559.87
Chicago  29,098.94  36,834.37  29,010.20  37,667.66