REUSING()

The REUSING() function returns the state of the REUSE flag on a variable.

Format

REUSING(var)

where

var	is the variable to be examined.

Operators such as addition applied to dynamic arrays operate on each field, value or subvalue in turn. If the arrays are of different structure, such as one having more fields than the other or more values in one field than the corresponding field of the other array, the operators normally use a default value for the missing item.

The REUSE() function causes the previous field, value or subvalue to be reused in place of this default value where array structures do not match. The REUSE() function applies only to values in expressions; its effect cannot be assigned to a variable but it can be used to qualify an argument in a subroutine or function call.

The REUSING() function allows a subroutine to determine whether an argument has the reuse flag set but does not clear the flag. This can easily be achieved by copying the variable, including overwriting itself.