Syntax of a variable declaration

Simple syntax

In its simplest form, a PowerScript variable declaration requires only two parts: the datatype and the variable name. For example:

datatype variablename

Full syntax

The full syntax allows you to specify access and an initial value. Arrays and some datatypes, such as blobs and decimals, accept additional information:

{ access } datatype { { size } } { { precision } } variablename { = value }
	{, variablename2 { = value2 } }

**Table 3-2: Variable declaration parameters**
Parameter	Description
access (optional)	(For instance variables only) Keywords specifying the access for the variable. For information, see “Access for instance variables”.
datatype	The datatype of the variable. You can specify a standard datatype, a system object, or a previously defined structure. For blobs and decimals, you can specify the size or precision of the data by including an optional value in brackets.
{ size } (optional)	(For blobs only) A number, enclosed in braces, specifying the size in bytes of the blob. If { size } is omitted, the blob has an initial size of zero and PowerBuilder adjusts its size each time it is used at runtime. If you enter a size that exceeds the declared length in a script, PowerBuilder truncates the blob data.
{ precision } (optional)	(For decimals only) A number, enclosed in braces, specifying the number of digits after the decimal point. If you do not specify a precision, the variable takes the precision assigned to it in the script.
variablename	The name of the variable (must be a valid PowerScript identifier, as described in “Identifier names”). You can define additional variables with the same datatype by naming additional variable names, separated by commas; each variable can have a value.
value (optional)	A literal or expression of the appropriate datatype that will be the initial value of the variable. Blobs cannot be initialized with a value. For information, see “Initial values for variables”.

Examples

Declaring instance variables

integer ii_total = 100 // Total shares

date id_date // Date shares were bought

Declaring a global variable

string gs_name

Declaring shared variables

time st_process_start

string ss_process_name

Declaring local variables

string ls_city = "Boston"

integer li_count

Declaring blobs This statement declares ib_Emp_Picture a blob with an initial length of zero. The length is adjusted when data is assigned to it:

blob ib_Emp_Picture

This statement declares ib_Emp_Picture a blob with a fixed length of 100 bytes:

blob{100} ib_Emp_Picture

Declaring decimals These statements declare shared variables sc_Amount and sc_dollars_accumulated as decimal numbers with two digits after the decimal point:

decimal{2} sc_Amount

decimal{2} sc_dollars_accumulated

This statement declares lc_Rate1 and lc_Rate2 as decimal numbers with four digits after the decimal point:

dec{4} lc_Rate1, lc_Rate2

This statement declares lc_Balance as a decimal with zero digits after the decimal point:

decimal{0} lc_Balance

This statement does not specify the number of decimal places for lc_Result. After the product of lc_Op1 and lc_Op2 is assigned to it, lc_Result has four decimal places:

dec lc_Result

dec{2} lc_Op1, lc_Op2

lc_Result = lc_Op1 * lc_Op2