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EXPONENT()
Determines the exponent of a floating point number (base 2)
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Syntax
EXPONENT(<nFloatingPointNumber>) --> nExponent
Argument
<nFloatingPointNumber> Designates any decimal number.
Returns
EXPONENT() returns the exponent of the <nFloatingPointNumber> number in
base 2.
Description
CA-Clipper stores all numbers in a floating point format (called
"double" in C). EXPONENT() only returns exponents in this format, and
they are always expressed in base 2.
Note
. The expression EXPONENT(0) returns a value of 0. However, the
expression 20 returns a value of 1. In this case, the mantissa must
also equal 0 (see MANTISSA()).
Examples
. The following calculation produces the original number:
^2 EXPONENT(nValue) * MANTISSA(nValue)= nValue
? EXPONENT(0) // Result: 0
? EXPONENT(INFINITY()) // Result: 1023
? EXPONENT(100) // Result: 6
. The sign for nValue will not be considered:
? EXPONENT(-100) // Result: 6
? EXPONENT(-1.01) // Result: 0
? EXPONENT(-2.01) // Result: 1
. Values in the range of -1 < nValue < +1, yield negative
exponents regardless of the sign:
? EXPONENT(0.01) // Result: -7
? EXPONENT(-0.01) // Result: -7
See Also:
MANTISSA()
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