type#

Purpose#

Returns the symbol table type (matrix, string, etc) of its input argument.

Format#

t = type(x)#

Parameters:

x (any) – local or global symbol, can be an expression.

Returns:

t (scalar) –

argument type.

6	matrix
13	string
15	string array
17	structure
21	array
23	structure pointer
38	sparse matrix

Examples#

Example 1#

// Create a matrix
x = { 1 2,
      3 4 };

// Find type of 'x'
x_type = type(x);

After the above code, x_type will equal: 6, indicating that x is a matrix.

Example 2#

// Create a string
x = "myfile.dat";

// Find type of 'x'
x_type = type(x);

After the above code, x_type will equal: 13, indicating that x is a string.

Remarks#

type() is often used to verify that inputs to a user defined procedure are valued. For example, if an input is a file name, then it must be a string:

proc (1) = myProc(fname);
    if type(fname) != 13;
        errorlog "Input 'fname' must be a string";
        end;
    endif;
endp;

type() returns the type of a single symbol. The related function typecv() will take a character vector of symbol names and return a vector of either their types or the missing value code for any that are undefined. type() works for the symbol types listed above; typecv() works for user-defined procedures, keywords and functions as well. type() works for global or local symbols; typecv() works only for global symbols.