Maptitude Help / Formulas, Conditions, and Functions / Functions
Functions
The following functions are available in Maptitude. Note that function names are not case sensitive. The functions are grouped into functions for strings, functions for numbers, and functions for converting between strings and numbers. This section also describes conditional expressions.
For clarity, most of the examples use string or numeric constants as arguments. You can use any value as an argument, including a formula, condition, or function, as long as it is of the correct type.
This is just a subset of the functions that are available when you use the GIS Developer’s Kit (GISDK) to create add-ins, custom applications, or map servers. For more information on GISDK, choose Help>GISDK Help.
In this topic:
- String Functions
- Numeric Functions
- Conversion Functions
- Conditional Expressions
- Standard System Formats and DateTime Specifiers
String Functions
Left (string, number)
Description: Returns the leftmost number of the characters in string.
Arguments: string – any string
number – any number up to the number of characters in string
Returned value: A string of the number leftmost characters of string
Examples: Left (“New York City”,8) returns “New York”
Left (“the greatest”,8) returns “the grea”
Len (string)
Description: Returns the length (number of characters) of string.
Arguments: string – any string
Returned value: A value equal to the number of characters in string
Examples: Len (“New York City”) returns 13
Len (“equal ”) returns 6
Lower (string)
Description: Converts string to all lower case.
Arguments: string – any string
Returned value: A string equal to string changed to all lower case
Examples: Lower (“New York City”) returns “new york city”
Lower (“PLEASE REDUCE THE”) returns “please reduce the”
Lpad (string, length)
Description: Makes string length characters long by adding spaces in front.
Arguments: string – any string
length - the desired length of the string
Returned value: A string that is length characters long
Example: Lpad (“Hello”, 10) returns “ Hello”
Position (string1, string2)
Description: Finds the location of string2 in string1.
Arguments: string1 – the string to be searched
string2 – the string to search for
Returned value: A number indicating the character position in string1 where string2 was found, or zero if the string2 is not found in string1
Examples: Position (“ABCDEFGHIJK”, “CDE”) returns 3
Position (“ABCDEFGHIJK”, “Maptitude”) returns 0
Proper (string)
Description: Converts string to initial caps.
Arguments: string – any string
Returned value: A string equal to string changed to initial caps
Examples: Proper (“NEW YORK CITY”) returns “New York City”
Proper (“please reduce the”) returns “Please Reduce The”
Right (string, number)
Description: Returns the rightmost number of the characters in string.
Arguments: string – any string
number – any number up to the number of characters in string
Returned value: A string of the number rightmost characters of string
Examples: Right (“annual sales of $12 million”,14) returns “of $12 million”
Right (“Boston MA”,2) returns “MA”
Rpad (string, length)
Description: Makes string length characters long by adding spaces at the end.
Arguments: string – any string.
length - the desired length of the string
Returned value: A string that is length characters long
Example: Rpad (“Hello”, 10) returns “Hello ”
Substitute (input, find, replace, n)
Description: Replaces the nth occurrence of the find string with the replace string. If n is omitted, all occurrences are substituted. You must include all three commas.
Arguments: input – any string
find – the string to be replaced
replace – the string to replace with
n – a number indicating which occurrence to substitute
Returned value: Returns the modified string
Examples: Substitute (“input string”, “in”, “out”,1) returns “output string”
Substitute (“input string”, “in”, “out”, ) returns “output stroutg”
Substring (string, start, length)
Description: Returns the portion of string starting at the start character and including the following length characters.
Arguments: string – any string
start – a number corresponding to the number of characters from the left end of string where you want to start the substring. Note that start must be smaller than the total number of characters in string
length – a number corresponding to the number of characters of string you want to include in the substring
Returned value: A string, starting with the start character of string, and including length characters
Examples: Substring (“New York City”,5,4) returns “York”
Substring (“for a=25”,7,2) returns “25”
Trim (string)
Description: Trims leading and trailing spaces from string.
Arguments: string – any string
Returned value: string without leading or trailing spaces
Examples: Trim (“ every three digits ”) returns “every three digits”
Trim (“equal to ”) returns “equal to”
Upper (string)
Description: Converts string to all upper case.
Arguments: string – any string
Returned value: A string equal to string changed to all upper case
Examples: Upper (“New York City”) returns “NEW YORK CITY”
Upper (“the 23rd”) returns “THE 23RD”
Word (string, n)
Description: Finds the nth word in string.
Arguments: string – any string
n – any number
Returned value: A string consisting of the nth word in string, or an empty string if string is less than n words long
Examples: Word (“New York City”, 2) returns “York”
Word (“Maptitude”, 3) returns “” (an empty string)
Numeric Functions
Abs (value)
Description: Converts value to an absolute value.
Arguments: value – any number
Returned value: A value equal to the absolute value of value
Examples: Abs (245) returns 245
Abs (-245) returns 245
Abs (-32.75) returns 32.75
Acos (value)
Description: Returns the arccosine of value.
Arguments: Value – any number between -1 and 1
Returned value: A value equal to the angle in radians whose cosine is value
Examples: Acos (0.50) returns 1.05
Acos (-0.50) returns 2.94
Acosh (value)
Description: Returns the hyperbolic arccosine of value.
Arguments: value – any number greater than or equal to 1
Returned value: A value equal to the number whose hyperbolic cosine is value
Examples: Acosh (3) returns 1.76
Acosh (300) returns 3.40
Asin (value)
Description: Returns the arcsine of value.
Arguments: value – any number between -1 and 1
Returned value: A value equal to the angle in radians whose sine is value
Examples: Asin (0.5) returns 0.524
Asin (-0.5) returns -0.524
Asinh (value)
Description: Returns the hyperbolic arcsin of value.
Arguments: value – any number
Returned value: A value equal to the number whose hyperbolic sine is value
Examples: Asinh (-2.5) returns 1.647
Asinh (10) returns 2.998
Atan (value)
Description: Returns the arctangent of value.
Arguments: value – any number
Returned value: A value equal to the angle in radians (from -pi/2 to pi/2) whose tangent is value
Examples: Atan (1.0) returns 0.785
Atan (300) returns 1.567
Atanh (value)
Description: Returns the hyperbolic arctangent of value.
Arguments: value – any number greater than -1 and less than 1
Returned value: A value equal to the number whose hyperbolic tangent is value
Examples: Atanh (0.5) returns 0.549
Atanh (-0.5) returns -0.549
Atan2 (y_num, x_num)
Description: Returns the angle between the x-axis and the coordinates x_num, y_num.
Arguments: x_num – any positive or negative number
y_num – any positive or negative number
Returned value: A value equal to the angle, in radians, between the x-axis and the coordinates x_num, y_num. The returned value lies between -pi and pi, excluding -pi. If both x_num and y_num = 0, atan2 returns a Divide-by-Zero error
Examples: Atan2 (25,10) returns 0.381
Atan2 (0,25) returns 1.571
Ceil (value)
Description: Returns the next larger integer after value.
Arguments: value – any number
Returned value: A value equal to the next larger integer after value
Examples: Ceil (3.72) returns 4
Ceil (-2.75) returns -2
Cos (value)
Description: Returns the cosine of the angle value.
Arguments: value – any angle, expressed in radians
Returned value: A number between 0 and 1
Examples: Cos (0.7) returns 0.765
Cos (1.2) returns 0.362
Cosh (value)
Description: Returns the hyperbolic cosine of value.
Arguments: value – any angle, expressed in radians
Returned value: A number, in radians, representing the hyperbolic cosine of value
Examples: Cosh (1.5) returns 2.35
Cosh (-10) returns 11013.23
Exp (value)
Description: Returns the value of the constant e raised to the power value.
Argument: value – any number
Returned value: The value of the constant e raised to the power value
Examples: Exp (2) returns 7.389
Exp (-1.9) returns 0.150
Factorial (value)
Description: Returns the factorial of value.
Arguments: value – any integer
Returned value The factorial (n!) of value
Examples: Factorial (6) returns 720
Factorial (25) returns 1.55 x 1025
Floor (value)
Description: Returns the next smaller integer before value.
Arguments: value – any number
Returned value: A value equal to the next smaller integer before value
Examples: Floor (3.72) returns 3
Floor (-2.75) returns -3
Log (value)
Description: Returns the value of the natural logarithm of value.
Argument: value – any number
Returned value: The value of the natural logarithm (base e) of value
Examples: Log (2) returns 0.693
Log(4.87) returns 1.583
Log (1002.38) returns 6.910
Log10 (value)
Description: Returns the value of the common logarithm of value.
Argument: value – any number
Returned value: The value of the common logarithm (base 10) of value
Examples: Log10 (2) returns 0.301
Log10 (4.87) returns 0.688
Log10 (1002.38) returns 3.001
Max (x, y)
Description: Returns the larger of x and y.
Arguments: x – any number
y – any number
Returned value: A value that is the larger of x and y
Examples: Max (243.7, 443.2) returns 443.2
Max (24, -42) returns 24
Min (x, y)
Description: Returns the smaller of x and y.
Arguments: x – any number
y – any number
Returned value: A value that is the smaller of x and y
Examples: Min (23, 25) returns 23
Min (243.7, 443.2) returns 243.7
Min (24, -42) returns -42
Mod (x, y)
Description: Returns the remainder (modulus) of x/y.
Arguments: x – any number
y – any number
Returned value: A value that is the remainder of the calculation x/y
Examples: Mod (23,7) returns 2
Mod (256,9) returns 4
Mod (-442.2,5) returns -2.2
Pow (x, y)
Description: Returns the value of x to the y power.
Arguments: x – any number
y – any number
Returned value: A value that is x to the y power
Examples: Pow (2,3) returns 8
Pow (7.2,2.5) returns 139.10
Pow (3,-2) returns 0.111
RandomNumber ()
Description: Generates a random number between 0.0 and 1.0.
Arguments: none
Returned value: A pseudo-random real number between 0.0 and 1.0
Examples: RandomNumber () returns a different number each time
Round (value, decimals)
Description: Returns value rounded to decimals places.
Arguments: value – any number
decimals – an integer
Returned value: A value equal to value rounded to decimals places
Examples: Round (3.42, 0) returns 3
Round (3.72, 0) returns 4
Round (3.72, 1) returns 3.7
Round (-3.42, 1) returns -3.4
Sign (number)
Description: Returns the sign of a number.
Arguments: number – any number
Returned value: Returns -1 if the number is less than zero, 1 if it is greater than zero, or 0 if it is equal to zero
Examples: Sign(3.4) returns 1
Sign(-18) returns -1
Sign(0) returns 0
Sin (value)
Description: Returns the sine of the angle value.
Arguments: value – any angle, expressed in radians
Returned value: A number between 0 and 1
Examples: Sin (1.0) returns 0.841
Sin (1.5) returns 0.997
Sinh (value)
Description: Returns the hyperbolic sine of the angle value.
Arguments: value – any angle, expressed in radians
Returned value: A number representing the hyperbolic sine of the angle value
Examples: Sinh (3) returns 10.02
Sinh (0.7) returns 0.759
Sqrt (value)
Description: Returns the value of the square root of value.
Arguments: value – any number
Returned value: A value that is the square root of value
Examples: Sqrt (16) returns 4
Sqrt (12) returns 3.464
Tan (value)
Description: Returns the tangent of the angle value.
Arguments: value – any angle, expressed in radians
Returned value: A number representing the tangent of the angle value
Examples: Tan (0.785) returns 0.992
Tan (1.5) returns 14.1
Tanh (value)
Description: Returns the hyperbolic tangent of the angle value.
Arguments: value – any angle, represented in radians
Returned value: A number representing the hyperbolic tangent of the angle value
Examples: Tanh (-2) returns -0.964
Tanh (0.5) returns 0.462
Tanh (4) returns 0.999
Conversion Functions
Char (i)
Description: Changes i to the corresponding character in the ASCII table.
Arguments: i – an integer between 0 and 255
Returned value: A string of one character, whose ASCII value is i.
Examples: Char (32) returns “ “ (a blank character)
Char (75) returns “K”
Char (107) returns “k”
Char (189) returns “½”
CreateDate (day, month, year)
Description: Changes day, month, and year into a DateTime compound variable.
Arguments: day – day number
month – month number
year – year number
Returned value: A DateTime compound variable with the time properties null.
Example: CreateDate(3,1,2013) returns a DateTime compound variable containing the date 03Jan2013
CreateDateTime (day, month, year, hour, minute, second, millisecond)
Description: Changes day, month, year, hour, minute, second, and millisecond into a DateTime compound variable.
Arguments: day – day number
month – month number
year – year number
hour – hour number in 24-hour format
minute – minute number
second – second number
millisecond – millisecond number
Returned value: A DateTime compound variable.
Example: CreateDateTime(3,1,2013,11,22,19,48) returns a DateTime compound variable containing the date 03Jan2013 and the time 11:22:19.48 AM
CreateTime (hour, minute, second, millisecond)
Description: Changes hour, minute, second, and millisecond into a DateTime compound variable.
Arguments: hour – hour number in 24-hour format
minute – minute number
second – second number
millisecond – millisecond number
Returned value: A DateTime compound variable with the date properties null.
Example: CreateDateTime(11,22,19,48) returns a DateTime compound variable containing the time 11:22:19.48 AM
Format (num, fmt)
Description: Formats num according to fmt into a string.
Arguments: num – any numeric value
fmt – the desired format
Returned string: a string that has:
• at least as many digits to the left of the decimal as there are zeros to the left of the decimal in fmt
• at most as many digits to the left of the decimal as there are zeros and number signs to the left of the decimal in fmt
• at least as many digits to the right of the decimal as zeros to the right of the decimal in fmt
• at most as many digits to the right of the decimal as there are zeros and number signs to the right of the decimal in fmt
• a leading dollar sign if a dollar sign appears in fmt
• commas every three digits if a comma appears in fmt
• exponential notation if ‘e’ or ‘E’ appears in fmt
• at least as many digits in the exponent as zeros to the right of the ‘e’ in fmt
• at most as many digits in the exponent as zeros and number signs to the right of the ‘e’ in fmt
• extra digits to the right of the decimal are rounded
• extra digits to the left of the decimal cause an overflow and result in a string of all number signs
• if a “*” appears to the left of the decimal, Maptitude uses as many digits as are necessary
Examples: Format (123.456, "$0,000.00") returns "$0,123.46"
Format (123.456, “#.000e00”) returns “1.2346e+02”
Format (100, “#.00##E##”) returns “1.00E+2”
Format (-24.6835, “#0.00###”) returns -24.6835”
FormatDateTime (datetime, fmt)
Description: Formats datetime according to fmt into a string.
Arguments: datetime – DateTime compound variable
fmt – the desired format
Returned string: A string formatted based on the Standard System Formats and/or DateTime specifiers.
Examples: If dt is created with CreateDateTime(3,1,2013,22,11,19,48) then:
FormatDateTime(dt,) returns “1/3/2013 10:11:19 PM”
FormatDateTime(dt,”ddMMMyyyy”) returns “03Jan2013”
FormatDateTime(dt,”HH:mm:ss”) returns “22:11:19”
IntToString (i), I2S (i)
Description: Changes i to the string representation of the integer value.
Arguments: i – any integer
Returned value: A string representing the value of i
Examples: IntToString (123) returns “123”
I2S (73) returns “73”
ParseDateTime (string, fmt)
Description: Formats string according to fmt into a DateTime compound variable.
Arguments: string – DateTime compound variable
fmt – the desired format
Returned string: A string formatted based on the Standard System Formats and/or DateTime specifiers.
Examples: ParseDateTime(“1/3/2013 10:11:19 PM”,) returns a DateTime compound variable with the date 1/3/2013 and the time 10:11:19 PM
ParseDateTime(“2013.1.3 22:9:43”,”yyyy.M.d HH:m:s”) returns a DateTime compound variable with the date 1/3/2013 and the time 10:09:43 PM
RealToInt (n), R2I (n)
Description: Changes n to an integer value.
Arguments: n – any real number
Returned value: An integer that is equal to the integer portion of n. To round to an integer, use the Round() function with zero decimal places. Integers are promoted to real numbers as necessary, so there is no need for an IntToReal() function.
Examples: RealToInt (12.3) returns 12
r2i (.73) returns 0
RealToString (n), R2S (n)
Description: Changes n to the string representation of the real number.
Arguments: n – any real number
Returned value: A string representing the value of n
Examples: RealToString (12.3) returns "12.3"
r2S (.73) returns “0.73”
String (number)
Description: Converts number to a string.
Arguments: number – any numeric value
Returned value: a string equal to “number”
Examples: String (1234) returns “1234”
String (1.756) returns “1.756”
StringToInt (string), S2I (string)
Description: Changes string to an integer value.
Arguments: string – a string starting with a number
Returned value: An integer equal to the value of string, or zero if string begins with a non-numeric character
Examples: StringToInt (“123”) returns 123
S2I (“.43”) returns 0
StringToReal (string), S2R (string)
Description: Changes string to a real number.
Arguments: string – a string
Returned value: A real number equal to the value of string, or zero if string begins with a non-numeric character
Examples: StringToReal (“123.45”) returns 123.45
S2I (“43”) returns 43.00
Value (string)
Description: Converts string to a numeric value.
Arguments: string – a string starting with a number
Returned value: A value corresponding to the value of the number in string. Value() ignores all characters starting with the first alphabetic character. Therefore, a string starting with a non-numeric character evaluates to zero (0) and a string containing a number followed by letters evaluates to the number preceding the first letter
Examples: Value (“23347”) returns 23347
Value (“455.77”) returns 455.77
Value (“bridges”) returns 0
Value (“123roads”) returns 123
Value (“123roads456”) returns 123
Conditional Expressions
if x then b
Description: If the condition x evaluates to true, then the value of the expression is b. If not, the value is null.
Arguments: x – a condition
b – an expression that the command evaluates to if x is true
Returned value: The value of b or null, depending on whether x evaluates to true or false, respectively
Examples: (if population>100000 then 1)
(if distance<5 then buffer)
if x then b else c
Description: If the condition x evaluates to true, then the value of the expression is b. If not, the value is c.
Arguments: x – a condition
b – an expression that the command evaluates to if x is true
c – an expression that the command evaluates to if x is false
Returned value: The value of b or c, depending on whether x evaluates to true or false, respectively. b and c can be any expression, and their types need to match when used in a formula. x, b and c are all evaluated before a value is returned.
Examples: (if population>100000 then 1 else 0)
(if distance<5 then buffer else no_buffer)
Standard System Formats and DateTime Specifiers
These Standard System Formats and DateTime specifiers can be used in the FormatDateTime() and ParseDateTime() functions. The Standard System Formats are according to Regional Settings system control panel. The Standard System Formats can be combined, e.g., @dT, which is the default format string. If fmt is null then ParseDateTime() will try to guess the format.
| Standard System Format | Description |
|---|---|
| @d | Short date |
| @D | Long date |
| @t | Short time |
| @T | Long time |
| Specifier | Description |
|---|---|
| d | The one- or two-digit day |
| dd | The two-digit day; Single-digit day values are preceded by a 0 |
| ddd | The three-character day-of-week abbreviation |
| dddd | The full day-of-week name |
| h | The one- or two-digit hour in 12-hour format |
| hh | The two-digit hour in 12-hour format; Single digit values are preceded by a 0 |
| H | The one- or two-digit hour in 24-hour format |
| HH | The two-digit hour in 24-hour format; Single digit values are preceded by a 0 |
| m | The one- or two-digit minute |
| mm | The two-digit minute; Single digit values are preceded by a 0 |
| M | The one- or two-digit month number |
| MM | The two-digit month number; Single digit values are preceded by a 0 |
| MMM | The three-character month abbreviation |
| MMMM | The full month name |
| s | The one- or two-digit seconds |
| ss | The two-digit seconds; Single digit values are preceded by a 0 |
| t | The one-letter A.M./P.M. abbreviation (e.g., A.M. is displayed as “A”) |
| tt | The two-letter A.M./P.M. abbreviation (e.g., A.M. is displayed as “AM”) |
| y | The one-digit year (e.g., 2001 is displayed as “1”) |
| yy | The last two digits of the year (e.g., 2025 is displayed as “25”) |
| yyyy | The full year (e.g., 2025 is displayed as “2025”) |
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