NUMBYTES

The NUMBYTES function counts the number of bytes in a text expression. When the value is a multiline text value, NUMBYTES returns the total number of bytes in all the lines. The result returned by NUMBYTES has the same dimensions as the specified expression.

Return Value

INTEGER

Syntax

NUMBYTES(text-expression)

Arguments

text-expression: The text expression whose bytes are to be counted.

Notes

Single-Byte Characters

When you are using a single-byte character, you can use the NUMCHARS function instead of the NUMBYTES function.

NTEXT Data Type

This function does not accept NTEXT arguments, because it is oriented toward byte-manipulation instead of character manipulation. It always returns values of type TEXT. When you must use this function on NTEXT values, use the CONVERT or TO_CHAR function to convert the NTEXT value to TEXT.

Examples

Example 18-39 Counting the Bytes in the Longest Name

You would like to know the length of the names of your products so you can specify the appropriate width for the label column in a report. You can use the NUMBYTES function in combination with the LARGEST function to find the length of the longest label. Then use that value to set the column size. The following statements in a program find the longest name and use the byte count to format a report.

firstcol = LARGEST(NUMBYTES(name.product))+1
LIMIT month TO FIRST 3
FOR product
   DO
     ROW WIDTH FIRSTCOL name.product WIDTH 6 ACROSS month - 
     FIRST 3: units
   DOEND

When the program is run, it produces the following output.

3-Person Tents      200    203    269
Aluminum Canoes     347    400    482
Tennis Racquets     992  1,076  1,114
Warm-up Suits     1,096  1,214  1,294
Running Shoes     2,532  2,405  2,775