Numeric Variable

<1-30 alphanumeric characters and underscores, the first of which must be a letter (but not FN). They also cannot be reserved words>

"Num-var" or "numeric variable" is a name that a programmer assigns to a storage location in the computer's memory; it is used for storing a number. Variables are created by being referenced in expressions or by being specified in the DIM statement. When used in numeric expressions, numeric variables can be either subscripted or un-subscripted. When specified in syntax diagrams in this book, however, num-var must be a simple (i.e., un-subscripted) variable name -except when stated otherwise in the "parameters" section for the specific statement.

A numeric variable name can be 1-30 alphanumeric characters and underscores, the first of which must be a letter. Examples of simple numeric variable names include A5, TOTAL, RATE, and EMPLRATE.

The same character sequence may be used as a name for both a variable (scalar) and an array. By adding a $ on the end, the same character sequence may be used for a string variable and a string array. Thus A, MAT A, A$, and MAT A$ all may co-exist in the same program.

Certain words are reserved by Business Rules, and cannot be used as variable names. Note that all words starting with the letters "FN" are reserved, as they are considered user-defined function names. See also Reserved Words.