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Home >Online Product Documentation >Table of Contents >Calling Number Functions Calling Number FunctionsThis section describes the number functions that you can call in a query. The operations you can perform are Converting an Object to a NumberIn some situations, you might want to force a numeric comparison. The XPath processor performs a numeric comparison if either operand is numeric and neither is Boolean. (If one operand is Boolean, the XPath processor converts the other to Boolean and performs a Boolean comparison.) However, if neither operand is a numeric or Boolean value, you can call the number() function on one operand to convert it to a numeric value. The XPath processor automatically converts the other operand to a numeric value. To perform a numeric comparison, you must call the number() function to convert a Boolean operand, if there is one, to a numeric value. The format of the number() function is If you omit the argument, the value of the argument defaults to a node set with the context node as its only member. Table 95 shows how the number() function converts its argument to a number: Obtaining the Sum of the Values in a Node SetTo obtain the sum of the values of the nodes in a set, call the sum() function. The format is For each node in the argument node-set, the XPath processor converts the string value of the node to a number. The sum() function returns the sum of these numbers. Obtaining the Largest, Smallest, or Closest NumberTo obtain the largest integer that is not greater than a particular number, call the floor() function. The format is The floor() function returns the largest (closest to positive infinity) number that is not greater than the argument and that is an integer. For example:
l floor(5.3) returns 5
l floor(-5.3) returns -6
To obtain the smallest integer that is not less than a particular number, call the ceiling() function. The format is The ceiling() function returns the smallest (closest to negative infinity) number that is not less than the argument and that is an integer. For example:
l ceiling(5.3) returns 6
l ceiling(-5.3) returns -5
To obtain the closest integer to a particular number, call the round() function. The format is The round() function returns the number that is closest to the argument and that is an integer. If there are two such numbers, the function returns the one that is closest to positive infinity. For example:
l round(5.3) returns 5
l round(5.6) returns 6
l round(5.5) returns 6
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