Function Syntax

The following table illustrates function syntax and usage guidelines.

Function Syntax Guidelines 
Usage Example
The exception -- no arguments
Function()
Basic format
Function(Data)
Nesting functions
Function1(Function2(Data))
Separate multiple arguments with commas
Function(data1, data2, data3)
Enclose string arguments in single or double quotes
Function('This is a demo') Function("This 
is a demo")
Arguments are expressions
Function1(X*Y, Function2("Text"))

To learn how to insert functions in various types of expressions see Pound Signs.

Optional arguments in functions

Some functions may take optional arguments after their required arguments. If omitted, optional arguments take some default value. For example:

Replace("FooFoo", "Foo", "Boo") returns "BooFoo"
Replace("FooFoo", "Foo", "Boo", "ALL") returns "BooBoo"

The difference in behavior is explained by the fact that the Replace function takes an optional fourth argument which specifies the scope of replacement. The default value is "ONE" which explains why only the first occurrence of "Foo" was replaced with "Boo". In the second example, a fourth argument is provided that forces the function to replace all occurrences of "Foo" with "Boo".


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