DataType function (LotusScript® Language)

Returns the data type of the value of an expression.

Syntax

DataType ( expr )

VarType is acceptable in place of DataType.

Elements

expr

Any expression.

Return value

DataType returns a number representing the data type of expr.

The following table describes the possible return values. The first column is the return value. The last column is "Yes" if the return value applies to variants only.

Return

Value type

Constant

Variants only

0

EMPTY

V_EMPTY

Yes

1

NULL

V_NULL

Yes

2

Integer

V_INTEGER

3

Long

V_LONG

4

Single

V_SINGLE

5

Double

V_DOUBLE

6

Currency

V_CURRENCY

7

Date/Time

V_DATE

Yes

8

String

V_STRING

9

OLE object or NOTHING

V_DISPATCH

Yes

10

OLE error

V_ERROR

Yes

11

Boolean

V_BOOLEAN

12

Variant list or array

V_VARIANT

13

IUNKNOWN (OLE value)

V_IUNKNOWN

Yes

17

Byte

V_BYTE

34

User-defined object

V_LSOBJ

35

Product object

V_PRODOBJ

2048

List

8192

Fixed array

8704

Dynamic array

Usage

The file lsconst.lss defines the constants described in the preceding table. If you want to refer to the return values as symbolic constants instead of numbers, use the %Include directive to include this file in your script.

If the argument to DataType is a list or an array, the return value is the sum of the value that represents a list or an array plus the value that represents the data type of elements of the list or array. For example, a fixed array of Integers is 8194 (that is, 8192 + 2); a list of Variants is 2060 (that is, 2048 + 12).

The return value 13 signifies an unknown value type, corresponding to the OLE value IUNKNOWN. To test for this value, use the IsUnknown function.

Related functions

IsObject

IsNull

IsEmpty

IsArray

IsList

IsNumeric

IsScalar

IsUnknown

Example