MapInfo Functions

Using Functions in Expressions
Page 1 of 17

Functions take data values and perform some operation on them to produce a new value. Functions
have the following form:
SomeFunction(parameters)
Most of MapInfo Professional's functions take one or two parameters. A parameter can be a column
or another expression. MapInfo Professional uses the keyword "obj" or "object" with the geographic
functions: Area, CentroidX, CentroidY, ObjectLen, and Perimeter. This keyword tells MapInfo
Professional that it has to get values based on graphical objects in the table rather than tabular data.
Abs
Syntax: Abs(num_expr)
Action: Returns the absolute value of a numerical expression. When the expression has a value
greater than zero, Abs returns that value. When the expression has a value less than zero, Abs
returns a value equal to the value of the expression multiplied by negative one.
Example: Consider the following expression:
1. Abs(numA-numB)
(returns the absolute difference between numA and numB, regardless of which is larger)
The following illustrates how Abs works:
Abs(5) = 5
Abs(-3) = 3
Abs(-0.02) = 0.02
Area
Syntax: Area(obj, units)
Action: Returns the area of the object. Returns 0 if the object has no area or there is no object for the
record. Arcs, text, points, lines, and polylines do not have areas. When you choose Area from a
menu, the "obj" keyword is placed between the parentheses with the current unit in double-quotes. In
most cases the current unit is square miles. To specify another unit, type the unit between quotes.
The units available are:
Unit Name
square miles
"sq mi"
square kilometers
"sq km"
square inches
"sq in"
mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files\MapInfo\Professional\MapInfoW.chm::/MapInfo... 12/17/2013
Page 2 of 17
square feet
"sq ft"
square survey feet
"sq survey ft"
square yards
"sq yd"
square millimeters
"sq mm"
square centimeters
"sq cm"
square meters
"sq m"
square chains
"sq ch"
square links
"sq li"
square rods
"sq rd"
perches
"perch"
roods
"rood"
acres
"acre"
hectares
"hectare"
Examples: To select all rows for objects that have an area greater than 59 square miles:
1. Area(obj,"sq mi")>59
To calculate the population density for an object:
1. Population/Area(obj,"sq mi")
To select all rows for objects with a population density less than 250 people per unit area:
1. Population/Area(obj,"sq mi")<250
When you want the area in hectares:
1. Area(obj,"hectare")
When you want the area in square kilometers:
1. Area(obj,"sq km")
CentroidX
Syntax: CentroidX(object)
Action: Returns the x coordinate of the centroid of the object, which is the longitude value for earth
maps. The centroid is usually the center of the object's minimum bounding rectangle (MBR).
The value is in decimal degrees if the coordinates are latitudes and longitudes. The value is in
whatever units were specified for the table if its coordinates are not latitudes and longitudes.
Examples: To select all objects west of New York City:
1. CentroidX(obj)<-73.997890
Page 3 of 17
To select all objects east of New York City:

1. CentroidX(obj)>-73.997890
CentroidY
Syntax: CentroidY(object)
Action: Returns the y centroid of the object, which is the latitude value for earth maps.
The value is in decimal degrees if the coordinates are latitudes and longitudes. The value is in
whatever units were specified for the table if its coordinates are not latitudes and longitudes.
Examples: To select all objects north of New York City:
1. CentroidY(obj)>40.750450
To select all objects south of New York City:
1. CentroidY(obj)<40.750450
To select all objects northeast of New York City:
1. CentroidX(obj)>-73.997890 and CentroidY(obj)>40.750450
The first clause in the expression selects objects east of New York City while the second clause in
the expression selects objects north of New York City. Because the two clauses are joined by "and"
an object must satisfy both clauses to be selected.
To select all objects that are either north or east of New York City:
1. CentroidX(obj)>-73.997890 or CentroidY(obj)>40.750450
The first clause in the expression selects objects east of New York City while the second clause in
the expression selects objects north of New York City. Because the two clauses are joined by "or" an
object needs to satisfy only one of them in order to be selected.
Chr$
Syntax: Chr$(num_expr)
Action: Chr$ interprets the value of num_expr as a character value. It returns the character
corresponding to that value. Accordingly, num_expr should be an integer between 0 and 255.
Example: You might want to have labels with information on two lines. You can use Chr$ to insert a
carriage return into a label expression. The ANSI value for a carriage return is 13. Assume that you
want the first line of a label to be a country name and the second line of a label to be the county
population.
The following expression produces that result:
1. Proper$(County)+Chr$(13)+Population
Some BASIC languages use the convention Chr$(10) to represent a line feed. MapBasic allows
you to specify either Chr$(13) or Chr$(10).
Page 4 of 17
Cos
Syntax: Cos(num_expr)
Action: The Cos function returns the cosine of the value of a numeric expression, where that
expression represents an angle expressed in radians.
CurDate
Syntax: CurDate( )
Action: Returns a date value representing the current date.
Examples: To enter the current date into a column:
1. CurDate()
You might use this in conjunction with Update Column where you want to enter the current date into
some column.
To select all received 30 or more days ago:
1. Received<=CurDate()-30
Day
Syntax: Day(datefield)
Action: Returns the day of the month from the date. The day is represented as an integer from one
(1) to thirty-one (31).
Examples: To select all rows where the date is the first of the month:
1. Day(date)=1
To select all rows where the day is Friday and the date is not the thirteenth:
1. Weekday(date)=6 and Day(date)<>13
This expression has two clauses. The first clause uses the Weekday function to select records where
the day of the week is a Friday. The second clauses uses the Day function to select records where
the day of the month does not equal (<>) 13. Since the two clauses are connected by "and" both
clauses must be true for a row to be selected.
Distance
Syntax: Distance(x1, y1, x2, y2, units)
x1 and x2 are East-West (Longitude) coordinates for earth maps
y1 and y2 are North-South (Latitude) coordinates for earth maps
Units is the current distance unit
Action: Calculates the distance between two points.
When you choose Distance from a menu the "obj" keyword is placed between the parentheses along
Page 5 of 17
with the current unit in double-quotes. In most cases the current unit is miles.
When you want distance to be in some other unit, you should type the unit in, between quotes. The
units available are:
Unit Name
Unit Represented
"mi"
miles
"km"
kilometers
"in"
inches
"ft"
feet
"survey ft"
survey feet
"li"
links
"rd"
rods
"ch"
chains
"yd"
yards
"mm"
millimeters
"cm"
centimeters
"m"
meters
"nmi"
nautical miles (1 nautical mile represents 1852 meters)
Examples: To calculate the distance between some objects and New York City, located at 73.997890 longitude and 40.750450 latitude:
1. Distance(-73.997890, 40.750450, CentroidX(obj), CentroidY(obj),"mi")
To select all objects west of New York and not more than 20 miles from it:
1. CentroidX(obj)<-73.997890 and Distance(-73.997890, 40.750450, CentroidX(obj), CentroidY
(obj),"mi")<=20
This expression has two clauses. The first clause specifies that an object must be west of New York
to be selected. The second clause specifies that an object must be no more than twenty miles from
New York in order to be selected. Since the two clauses are connected by "and" both must be true if
an object is to be selected.
Format$
Syntax: Format$ ( value, pattern)
value is a numeric expression
pattern is a string that specifies how to format the results
Action: Produces a string representation of the numeric value num_expr.
Examples: The Format$( ) function produces a specially-formatted character string that incorporates
a numeric value (specified by the value parameter). The Format$( ) function can embed a variety of
formatting characters (for example currency symbols such as $, %, periods, and commas) to make
Page 6 of 17
the result string more readable or more aesthetically pleasing. Given a numeric value such as
12345.67, your program can use the Format$( ) function to produce formatted results, such as
$12,345.67.
The Format$( ) function's value parameter represents the numeric value that you want to format. The
pattern parameter is a string of code characters, carefully chosen (by you) to produce a particular
type of formatted result. The pattern string should include one or more special format characters,
such as #, 0, %, the comma character, the period, or the semicolon character; these characters
control how the results looks. The pattern string can also include one or more cosmetic characters,
such as $, -, ( , or ), to make the results more attractive.
The next table summarizes the format characters.
Pattern
Control
Characters
Role in formatting results
The result includes one or more digits from the value. However, if the control string
contains one or more # characters to the left of the decimal place, and the value is
between zero and one, the formatted result string may not include a zero before
the decimal place.
A digit placeholder similar to the # character; however, if the control string contains
one or more 0 characters to the left of the decimal place, and the value is between
zero and one, the formatted result string includes a zero before the decimal place.
The period character is used in conjunction with the # character. When the pattern
string includes a period character, then the number of # characters to the right of
the period dictates the number of decimal places that the result string displays.
When you include a comma character before the first # character, the result string
includes a comma every three digits to the left of the decimal place. The number
ten million would appear as "10,000,000" rather than "10000000".
The result represents the value multiplied by one hundred; a value of 0.75
produces a result string of "75%". When you wish to include a percent sign in your
result, but you do not want MapBasic to multiply the value by one hundred, place a
\ (backslash) character before the percent sign.
E+
The result is formatted according to scientific notation; for example, the value 1234
produce the result "1.234e+03". When the exponent is positive, a plus sign
appears after the "e". When the exponent is negative (which is the case for
fractional numbers), a minus sign appears after the "e".
E-
This string of control characters functions just as the "E+" string, except that the
result never shows a plus sign following the "e".
By including a semicolon in your pattern string, you can specify one format for
positive numbers and another format for negative numbers. The semicolon should
appear after the first set of format characters, and before the second set of format
characters. The second set of format characters applies to negative numbers. If
the pattern string includes a second semicolon, the third format string (following
the second semicolon) will be used to format the special-case value of 0 (zero).
When your pattern string includes both positive and negative formats in this
fashion, the result does not automatically include a minus sign. When you wish to
include a minus sign in the results, you should include a "-" character in the
second set of format characters. See examples in next table.
When the backslash character appears in a pattern string, MapBasic does not
perform any special processing for the character that follows the backslash. This
allows you to include special characters (such as the percent sign) in the results,
Page 7 of 17
without causing the special formatting actions described above.

In the next table, the left column shows sample strings that you could use as the Format$( ) function's
pattern parameter. The middle column shows sample numbers, such as you might use as the value
parameter. The right column shows the results that Format$( ) would return, given the parameters
from the left columns.
Pattern
Value Parameter Format$( ) Returns:
",#"
12345
"12,345"
",#"
-12345
"-12,345"
"$#"
12345
"$12345"
"$#"
-12345
"-$12345"
"$,#"
12345
"$12,345"
"$,#"
-12345
"-$12,345"
"$,#.##"
12345.678
"$12,345.68"
"$,#.##"
-12345.678
"-$12,345.68"
"$,#.##;($,#.##)" 12345.678
"$12,345.68"
"$,#.##;($,#.##)" -12345.678
"($12,345.68)"
",#.###"
12345.6789
"12,345.679"
",#.#"
12345.6789
"12,345.7"
"#.#"
12345.6789
"12345.7"
"#.###E+##"
12345.6789
"1.235e+04"
"#.###E+##"
-12345.6789
"-1.235e+04"
"#.###E+##"
0.054321
"5.432e-02"
"#.###E-##"
12345.6789
"1.235e04"
"#.###E-##"
0.054321
"5.432e-02"
"#%"
0.054321
"5%"
"#.##%"
0.054321
"5.43%"
"#.##\%"
0.054321
".05%"
"0.##\%"
0.054321
"0.05%"
InStr
Syntax: InStr(position, string, substring)
Action: InStr tests whether of not some string has a specific substring. MapInfo Professional searches
string starting at the character position specified by position. When position is one, MapInfo
Professional starts searching at the beginning of string. When it has the value 6, MapInfo
Professional starts searching at the sixth character in string.
Page 8 of 17
When string contains substring, InStr returns the character position where substring starts.
When string does not contain substring, InStr returns zero.
Example: You are preparing to geocode a file and you want to identify all the entries with Post Office
boxes for addresses. That means you want all entries that have the string "box" in their address
column. They may also have "P.O.", but you cannot be sure of that. Nor can you be sure of how "box"
is capitalized in the entries. Here is your expression:
1. InStr(1,UCase$(ADDRESS),"BOX")>0
This expression directs MapInfo Professional to search the Address column for the string "BOX". All
entries containing this string are selected.
For example, if your data looks like this:
"This is a test of the insert function."
You want to find the position of "test." The INSTR function will look like this:
INSTR(1,"This is a test of the insert function", "test")
When this statement is executed, the value 11 will be returned.
If the string that you are searching for does not exist, the value 0 will be returned.
Int
Syntax: Int(num_expr)
Action: Returns the nearest integer that is less than or equal to the specified value (num_expr).
Examples: The following table shows how Int treats various values:
Number Int(Number)
5.2
5.999
-7.8
-8
-7.2
-8
When you apply Int to a Logical variable type, it will produce a 1 if the Logical value is TRUE, or 0 if
the Logical value is FALSE.
It is also possible to evaluate logical expressions with Int. For example:
1. Int(STATE_NAME="Maine")
returns an integer value of 1 if the State_Name column or variable contains the string "Maine", or an
integer value of 0 if State_Name contains any other string value.
LCase$
Page 9 of 17
Syntax: LCase$(string)
Action: Returns the lower case of the string.
Examples: Consider the following expression:
1. LCase$(CITY)
The following table shows how LCase$ converts an input string (from a column in your table) into a
returned string:
Input String Returned String
NEW YORK
new york
New yorK
new york
new york
new york
Left$
Syntax: Left$(string, number)
Action: Returns a string that consists of the leftmost number of characters in string.
1. Left$(CITY,5)
The following table shows how that expression converts an input string into a returned string:
Input String
Returned String
New York City New Y

Denver
Denve
Singapore
Singa
Now consider the following expression, where Phone is a column containing telephone numbers
prefixed by area codes:
1. Left$(PHONE,3)="404"
This expression selects all rows where the first three digits of the phone number are "404". Note that
the Phone column contains character data and therefore the comparison value, 404, has to be in
quotes so MapInfo Professional knows to treat it as a character string.
see also: Right$, Mid$
Len
Syntax: Len(string)
Action: Returns the number of characters in a string.
Page 10 of 17
LTrim$
Syntax: LTrim$(string)
Action: LTrim$ removes any non-printing characters (for example spaces, TABs) from the beginning
of string.
see also: RTrim$
Maximum
Syntax: Maximum(num_expr, num_expr)
Action: Maximum returns the larger of two numbers.
Example: To find the highest address number for a street segment in a StreetPro file:
1. Maximum(TOLEFT,TORIGHT)
ToLeft is the highest address number on the left side of a segment and ToRight is the highest
address number of the right side of a segment.
Mid$
Syntax: Mid$(string, position, length)
string is a character expression
position is an integer indicating a starting position in string
length is an integer indicating the number of characters to extract
Action: Mid$ returns a string of a set length, starting at given position, in a specified string.
1. Mid$(CITY,5,4)
Input String
Returned String
New York City York

Denver
er
Singapore
apor
The expression only returned two characters from "Denver". That is because "Denver" is too short
to have a four-character string starting at its fifth character.
Minimum
Syntax: Minimum(num_expr, num_expr)
Action: Minimum returns the smaller of two numbers.
Page 11 of 17
Examples: To find the lowest address number for a street segment in a StreetPro file:
1. Minimum(FROMLEFT,FROMRIGHT)
FromLeft is the highest address number on the left side of a segment and FromRight is the highest
address number of the right side of a segment.
Month
Syntax: Month(datefield)
Action: Returns the month of the date as a number, 1 through 12.
Examples: To select all received in August:
1. Month(received)=8
To select all received before August:
1. Month(received)<8
To select all received in August 1990:
1. Month(received)=8 and Year(received)=1990
This expression has two clauses. The first specifies that the month must be August and the second
that the year must be 1990. The clauses are connected by the AND operator and so both must be
True for a row to be selected.
To select all received in August or September:
1. Month(received)=8 or Month(received)=9
This expression has two clauses. The first selects rows where the month is August and the second
selects rows where the month is September. Since the clauses are connected by "or" only one must
be True for a row to be selected.
To select all received in August or September:
1. Month(received)=any(8,9)
This expression achieves the same result as 92, but is formulated using the keyword "any".
To select all received in August or September of 1990:
1. Month(received)=any(8,9) and Year(received)=1990
This expression has two clauses. The first selects rows where the month is August or September and
the second selects rows where the year is 1990. The clauses are connected by the AND operator
and so both must be True for a row to be selected.
ObjectLen
Syntax: ObjectLen(obj, unit)
Page 12 of 17
Action: Returns the length of lines and polylines. Returns a value of 0 for other objects.
When you choose ObjectLen from a menu place the "obj" keyword between the parentheses along
with the current unit in double-quotes. In most cases the current unit is miles. When you want length
to be in some other unit, type the unit using double quotes. The units available are:
Unit Name
Unit Represented
"mi"
miles
"km"
kilometers
"in"
inches
"ft"
feet
"survey ft"
survey feet
"yd"
yards
"mm"
millimeters
"cm"
centimeters
"li"
links
"rd"
rods
"ch"
chains
"m"
meters
"nmi"
nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1852 meters)
Examples: To calculate the length of an object:

1. ObjectLen(obj, "mi")
To have the length calculated in kilometers:
1. ObjectLen(obj, "km")
To have the length calculated in nautical miles:
1. ObjectLen(obj, "nmi")
When you wanted to convert from kilometers to miles you would use a conversion factor of .621.
To select all objects more than 10 miles long:
1. ObjectLen(obj, "mi")>10
Perimeter
Syntax: Perimeter(obj, unit)
Action: Returns the perimeter of the object for regions, ellipses, rectangles, and rounded rectangles.
When you choose Perimeter from a menu the "obj" keyword is placed between the parentheses
along with the current unit in double-quotes. In most cases the current unit is miles.
Page 13 of 17
When you want perimeter to be in some other unit, you should type the unit using double quotes. See
the table above for the available units.
Examples: To calculate the perimeter of an object:
1. Perimeter(obj, "mi")
To calculate the perimeter in kilometers:
1. Perimeter(obj, "km")
To calculate the Perimeter in meters"
1. Perimeter(obj, "m")
To select all objects with a perimeter greater than 35 miles long:
1. Perimeter(obj, "mi")>35
Proper$
Syntax: Proper$(string)
Action: Returns a string that has the first letter of each word capitalized and all other letters
lowercase.
1. Proper$(CITY)
This table shows how the Proper$ function reformats a column in your table:
Original text Reformatted text
NEW YORK
New York
New yorK
New York
new york
New York
New York
New York
Right$( )
Syntax: Right$ (string_expr, num_expr)
Action: Returns part or all of a string beginning at the right end of the string.
Example:
1. Right$(CITY, 4)
Input String
Page 14 of 17
Returned String
New York City City

Denver
nver
Singapore
pore
see also: Left$, Mid$
Round
Syntax: Round(number1, number2)
Action: Returns the rounded number1. number2 specifies how to round it.
1. Round(number1,number2)
The next table gives examples. The first column contains the function arguments (number1,
number2) and the second column contains the rounded result.
Arguments
Rounded Number
14347,10000
10000
14347, 100
14300
14347, 10
14350
12.18353, .1
12.20000
12.18353, .001 12.18400

To select all rows where the median age is 42, you might use the following expression:
1. Round(MED_AGE, 1)=42
Depending on your data, this expression may give better results than one that compares median age
directly with a target value (MED_AGE=42). The median age column in MapInfo Professional's
STATES table has the median age calculated to one decimal place. When we compare those values
directly with 42 MapInfo Professional would not select records where the median age is, for example,
41.7, 42.1, or 42.4. Yet we probably want those records. By rounding the median age value to a
whole number, we can get those values.
RTrim$
Syntax: RTrim$(string)
Action: RTrim$ removes any white-space characters (for example, spaces, and TABs) from the end
of string.
see also: LTrim$
Sin
Page 15 of 17
Syntax: Sin(num_expr)
Action: The Sin function returns the sine of the value of a numeric expression, where that expression
represents an angle expressed in radians.
Str$
Syntax: Str$(expr)
Action: Str$ converts a numerical expression into a string that represents it. When the numerical
expression is negative the first character in the string with be a negative sign (-). The first character
returned for a positive value is the first number. If the expression is an object, Str$() returns a string
describing the type of object (for example, "region"). If the expression is a Logical (true/false) value,
Str$ returns "T" for true or "F" for false.
When applied to a Float variable type, Str$ will produce a text string representing the floating-point
number rounded to:
z
Six digits of precision (total of 6 non-zero digits, including any number of leading or trailing
zeroes depending on the location of the decimal point) if the number is less than 100,000.
The nearest .01 (hundredth) if the number is greater than 100,000.
To control the number of digits of accuracy displayed in a string, use the Format$() function.
UCase$
Syntax: UCase$(string)
Action: Returns the upper case of the string.
1. UCase$(CITY)
This table shows how it converts an input string (from a column in your table) into a returned string:
Input String Returned String
NEW YORK
NEW YORK
New yorK
NEW YORK
new york
NEW YORK
see also: Lcase$, Proper$
Val
Syntax: Val(char_expr)
Action: The Val function extracts a numerical value from a character expression. It ignores any tabs,
spaces, and line feeds at the start of a string and then tries to interpret the first sequence of numeric
characters as a numerical value. It stops processing the string as soon as it finds a non-numeric
character.
Page 16 of 17
Except that it will also accept a minus (hyphen) sign and a decimal point (period), for example, Val
("-9.9") = -9.9. When the first character after initial tabs, spaces, and line feeds is not a numeric
character, Val returns a value of zero.
Examples: The following table illustrates how Val extracts a numerical value from an input string:
char_expr
12 thousand
Val(char_expr)
12
52 - 62 Brunswick 52
Eighteen
Box 239
Weekday
Syntax: Weekday(datefield)
Action: Returns the day of the week from the data. The day is given as a number between 1 and 7. 1
is Sunday and 7 is Saturday.
Examples: To select all rows where the weekday is Wednesday:
1. Weekday(date)=4
To select all rows where the weekday is Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday:
1. Weekday(date)=any(4,5,6)
The "any" keyword directs MapInfo Professional to select any row where the week day is one of the
specified days.
To select all rows where the day is Friday and the month is July:
1. Weekday(date)=6 and Month(date)=7
This expression has two clauses. The first clause uses the Weekday function to select records where
the day of the week is a Friday. The second clause uses the Month function to select records where
the month is July. Since the two clauses are connected by the AND operator, both clauses must be
True for a row to be selected.
Year
Syntax: Year(datefield)
Action: Returns the year of the date.
Examples: To find all orders received in 1990:
1. Year(date)=1990
To find all orders received in 1990 or 1991:
Page 17 of 17
1. Year(date)=any(1990,1991)
To find all orders received between 1985 and 1990, including those orders received in 1985 and
1990:
1. Year(date)>=1985 and Year(date)<=1990
This expression has two clauses. The first selects all rows where the date is 1985 or greater. The
second clause selects all rows where the date is 1990 or less. Both clauses must be satisfied for a
row to be selected.
2011 Pitney Bowes Software Inc.

MapInfo Functions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

MapInfo Functions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

square survey feet

"sq survey ft"

Using Functions in Expressions

To select all objects east of New York City:

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

nautical miles (1 nautical mile represents 1852 meters)

Using Functions in Expressions

Role in formatting results

Using Functions in Expressions

without causing the special formatting actions described above.

Value Parameter Format$( ) Returns:

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

New York City New Y

Using Functions in Expressions

New York City York

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1852 meters)

Examples: To calculate the length of an object:

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

New York City City

see also: Left$, Mid$

12.18353, .001 12.18400

Using Functions in Expressions

The nearest .01 (hundredth) if the number is greater than 100,000.

see also: Lcase$, Proper$

Using Functions in Expressions

Using Functions in Expressions

2011 Pitney Bowes Software Inc.

You might also like