Operators and Functions

In this topic:

Format

Assigning Variables

Arithmetic Operators

Date and time functions

Key to abbreviated unit options

General Information

A line beginning with * is ignored.

The return value is the last line that gives a value without assigning it to a variable.

 * Not the return value
myVar = Min(1, 2)

* Not the return value
anotherVar = "someString"

* The return value
substring(anotherVar, 1, 4)

Can create and use variables by doing the following:

 myVar = 5
Min(3, myVar)

Note: Variables are not case sensitive.

if/else flow control is available.

 myVar = 4.5
if (myVar lt 4) then
  "myVar is 4"
elseif (myVar gt 5) then
  "myVar is greater than 5"
else
  "myVar is between 4 and 5"
endif

TRUE is signified by the value 1.

FALSE is signified by the value 0.

Format

Conditions are entered in the format:

<variable><operator><value>

where

The name of the block model variable (upper or lower case), or the number of a mapfile variable.

Note: Mapfile variables must be preceded by a $ (dollar sign).

A symbol or textual operator (see below).

<value>

A numeric or alphanumeric value.

Note: Alphanumeric values must be in quotes, for example 'ABC1'. We also recommend that variable names do not contain symbols except for underscores (for example CU_IVD is okay but not CU%).

Assigning Variables

Use the assignment operator = to assign a value to a variable. Use logical operators for conditional statements.

Assignment operator:

AU = 1.0

sets the value of AU to ' 1.0 '.

Logical operator:

AU EQ 1.0

select AU if value is equal to ' 1.0 ' (logical operator).

Expression Functions

Arithmetic Operators

+    addition
-    subtraction
*    multiplication
/    division
~    exponentiation

Logical Operators

Logical functions have the same syntax as numeric functions. They return the value 1 (one) for TRUE and 0 (zero) for FALSE. Currently the only logical function is MATCH , which takes a wildcard pattern and a string to be matched against the pattern as arguments (that is MATCH(pattern, string )) . The wildcards (* multi-character and % single character) are supported.

Logical operators are not distinguishable from numeric operators. The values TRUE and FALSE are represented by "not zero" and "zero". Logical expressions and functions always return the value one for TRUE. It is often useful to mix logical operators and arithmetic operators.

(STR EQS "A") + (STR EQS "B") * 2

returns

' 0 ' if STR is not equal to ' A ' or ' B '

' 1 ' if STR equals ' A '

' 2 ' if STR equals ' B '

Operator	Example	Result	Comments
and	3 eq 3 and 3 eq 4	0	Used to combine a list of two or more arguments. Arguments are used to evaluate an object. Returns true (1) if an object matches all arguments or false (0) if an object does not match all arguments.
or	3 eq 3 or 3 eq 4	1	Used to combine a list of two or more arguments. Arguments are used to evaluate an object. Returns true (1) if an object matches at least one argument or false (0) if an object fails to match any of the arguments.
xor	3 eq 3 xor 4 eq 4	0	Returns true (1) if only one of the statements is true. Returns false (0) if neither of the statements is true or if both of the statements is true. When more than two statements are used, the logic is more complex. For example: 3 eq 3 xor 3 eq 4 xor 4 eq 4 would return false. Why? The operation evaluates from left to right. 3 eq 3 xor 3 eq 4 = true because only one of those statements is true. Now the equation is: true xor 4 eq 4. Both of these statements is also true, which would result in a "false" return. Therefore, the return for the entire statement (3 eq 3 xor 3 eq 4 xor 4 eq 4) would be false.
not	not (3 eq 3)	0	Used as an exclusionary statement for one or more arguments contained in parenthesis. Returns true (1) if the an object fails to meet the argument in the parenthesis. Returns false (0) if an object meets the argument in the parenthesis.
eq	3 eq 3	1	Numeric "is equal"
ne	3 ne 3	0	Numeric "is not equal"
gt	4 gt 3	1	Numeric "is greater than"
lt	4 lt 4	0	Numeric "is less than"
ge	4 ge 3	1	Numeric "is greater than or equal to"
le	4 le 4	1	Numeric "is less than or equal to"
eqs	"au" eqs "au"	1	String "is equal"
nes	"au" nes "au"	0	String "is not equal"
gts	"10" gts "09"	1	String "is greater than"
lts	"au" lts "au"	0	String "is less than"
ges	"10" ges "09"	1	String "is greater than or equal to"
les	"au" les "br"	1	String "is less than or equal to"

Numeric Functions

Numeric functions must be specified in the format:

FUNCTION (arg1, arg2, arg3,...)

where the list of function arguments are enclosed in brackets directly following the function name.

Function	Example	Result	Comments
ln	ln(2)	0.693147	Natural log of supplied number.
exp	exp(2)	7.389056	Power of Euler's number
log	log(2)	0.30103	Log base 10 of supplied number.
sin	sin(3.141593)	0	Returns the sine of an angle specified in radians. radians = degrees(π/180); degrees = radians(180/π) 3.141593 radians ~ 180 degrees
cos	cos(3.141593)	-1	Returns the cosine of an angle specified in radians. radians = degrees(π/180); degrees = radians(180/π) 3.141593 radians ~ 180 degrees
tan	tan(0.785398)	1	Returns the tangent of an angle specified in radians. radians = degrees(π/180); degrees = radians(180/π) 0.785398 radians ~ 45 degrees
asin	asin(0)	0	Arc sine of the supplied value. Result is angle in radians. radians = degrees(π/180); degrees = radians(180/π) 0 radians = 0 degrees
acos	acos(0)	1.5708	Arc cosine of the supplied value. Result is angle in radians. radians = degrees(π/180); degrees = radians(180/π) 1.5708 radians ~ 90 degrees
atan	atan(1)	0.785398	Arc tangent of the supplied value. Result is angle in radians. radians = degrees(π/180); degrees = radians(180/π) 0785398 radians ~ 45 degrees
sqrt	sqrt(16)	4	Square root of the entered value
int	int(1.9)	1	Remove decimals from the entered value. This does not round; it truncates.
frac	frac(1.9)	0.9	Return only the decimal portion of the entered value.
abs	abs(-5)	5	Absolute value of the entered number.
sgn	sgn(-8)	-1	Sign (positive, negative, neither)
mod	mod(1.1, 0.2)	0.1	Modulus, which returns a remainder that results when one number is divided by another. Example 1: mod(8,4) returns 0 because 8/4 = 2 with no remainder Example 2: mod (12,16) returns 12 because 12/16 = 0 with 12 as the remainder.
max	max(1.1, 0.2)	1.1	Return the maximum value of supplied values.
min	min(1.1, 0.2)	0.2	Return the minimal value of supplied values.
round	round(123.456, 2)	123.46	Round a value to specified number of decimal places. (<value>, <number of decimal places>)
&	"au" & "G1"	"auG1"	String concatenation

String Functions

String functions have the same syntax as numeric functions but return string values.

String constants must be enclosed in either single or double quotes.

if (au lt 2.0) then 
    if (topo eqs "oxide") then
        oretp = 4.0
    else
        oretp = 3.0.
    endif
endif

The only string operator supported is the string concatenation operator ' & '.

Function	Example	Result	Comments
match	match("a*1%34", "aBcD1234")	1	Returns 1 if the two input character strings match 0 if they do not. Use * as a wildcard representing any series of characters; % as a wildcard representing a any single character
upcase	upcase("aBcD1234")	"ABCD1234"	Replaces all alpha characters in the input character string with capital letters.
lowcase	lowcase("aBcD1234")	"abcd1234"	Replaces all alpha characters in the input character string with lower case letters.
ljust	ljust(" aBcD1234 ")	"aBcD1234 "	Removes any spaces on the left of an input character string.
rjust	rjust(" aBcD1234 ")	" aBcD1234"	Removes any spaces on the right of an input character string.
pack	pack(" aBc D1 234 ")	"aBcD1234"	Removes all spaces in the input character string.
substring	substring("aBcD1234", 2, 5)	"BcD1"	Returns a substring from the input character string. The first number denotes the position in the input character string of the first character of the substring. The second number denotes the position in the input character string of the final character of the substring.
subleft	subleft("aBcD1234", 3)	"aBc"	Returns the leftmost characters of an input character string. The number specifies how many character positions will be returned. In this example, the leftmost 3 characters of the input character string are returned.
subright	subright("aBcD1234", 5)	"D1234"	Returns the rightmost characters of an input character string. The number specifies how many character positions will be returned. In this example, the rightmost 5 characters of the input character string are returned.
stringlen	stringlen("aBcD1234")	"8"	Returns the length of a string.
indexsplit	indexsplit("aB_cD_1234","_",2)	"cD"	iINDEXSPLIT([ATT:Activity Name], "_", 2) where the underscore is the split string to use. Numbers start at 1 for which part to pull out. If you had a string like: Z01_5555_DEC_01_C the above formula would return 5555
format	format(32, "I3")	" 32"	See Fortran format documentation . Note that the result is a string, not a number.

Object Functions

Function	Example	Result
ObjColour	ObjColour()	Reports the position that the object's colour occupies on the colour palette.
ObjDescription	ObjDescription()	Reports the object description.
ObjFeature	ObjFeature()	Reports the feature code.
ObjGroup	ObjGroup()	Reports the group the object is in.
ObjLayer	ObjLayer()	Reports the layer the object is in.
ObjName	ObjName()	Reports the object name.
ObjMeta	ObjMeta(fieldname)	Reports the value of fieldname in the object's metadata.
ObjPrimitive	ObjPrimitive()	Reports the name of the predefined primitive shape saved as an attribute of the object. The name of all primitive shapes can be viewed here: $VULCAN/bin/flib/mtkprimitives.pgd
ObjValue	ObjValue()	Reports the value saved to the object's attributes.
ObjAttr	ObjAttr("template_name", "attribute_name")	This function retrieves the value of a specific attribute in the object. 1. The name of the template with desired attribute 2. The name of the desired attribute

Polyline Functions

Function	Example	Result
NumPoints	NumPoints()	Returns the number of points in the object.
GetX	GetX(2)	Returns the x-value of the entered point in the object. The given example would return the x-value of the second point in the object. Label point sequence in Vulcan to determine point numbers.
GetY	GetY(2)	Returns the y-value of the entered point in the object. The given example would return the y-value of the second point in the object. Label point sequence in Vulcan to determine point numbers.
GetZ	GetZ(2)	Returns the z-value of the entered point in the object. The given example would return the z-value of the second point in the object. Label point sequence in Vulcan to determine point numbers.
MinX	MinX()	Queries all the points in the object, and returns the lowest x-value found on any point.
MinY	MinY()	Queries all the points in the object, and returns the lowest y-value found on any point.
MinZ	MinZ()	Queries all the points in the object, and returns the lowest z-value found on any point.
MaxX	MaxX()	Queries all the points in the object, and returns the highest x-value found on any point.
MaxY	MaxY()	Queries all the points in the object, and returns the highest y-value found on any point.
MaxZ	MaxZ()	Queries all the points in the object, and returns the highest z-value found on any point.
AvgX	AvgX()	Returns the average x-value of all points in the object.
AvgY	AvgY()	Returns the average y-value of all points in the object.
AvgZ	AvgZ()	Returns the average z-value of all points in the object.
DeltaX	DeltaX(1, NumPoints())	Returns the change in x between two entered points. The given example would return the change in x between the first and last points in an object. Label point sequence in Vulcan to determine the location of the first and last points in an object.
DeltaY	DeltaY(2, 5)	Returns the change in y between two entered points. Label point sequence in Vulcan to determine point numbers.
DeltaZ	DeltaZ(1, 2)	Returns the change in z between two entered points. Label point sequence in Vulcan to determine point numbers.
Bearing	Bearing(1, 3, "rad")	Returns the bearing between two entered points. Label point sequence in Vulcan to obtain point numbers. The third entry specifies the unit of measure used to report the bearing: "rad" for radians, "dd" for decimal degrees, "dms" for degrees,minutes,seconds
Gradient	Gradient(1, 3, "deg")	Returns the gradient between two entered points. Label point sequence in Vulcan to obtain point numbers. The third entry specifies the unit of measure used to report the gradient: "per" for percentage, "deg" for degrees, "grd" for gradians, "rto" for ratio
PolyClosed	PolyClosed()	Checks for object closure as defined by the Close flag. Returns 1 if TRUE, 0 if FALSE. Example syntax: if (PolyClosed() eq 1) then PolyArea("ac",1) else PolyLength("km",1) endif
PolyLength	PolyLength() PolyLength("km",1)	The first example with empty brackets will return the length of an object in the default coordinate units specified in the project file (DG1). If one of the distance unit options is entered in the brackets, the statement will determine the default coordinate units from the DG1 file, and then convert the default units to the distance units entered. In the given example, the units would be converted to kilometres. Distance unit options: "cm", "m", "km", "ft", "yd", "mi". The distance unit options must always be followed by ',1'.
PolyArea	PolyArea() PolyArea("ac",1)	The first example with empty brackets will return the area of a polygon in the default coordinate units specified in the project file (DG1). So if your default is meters the expression will return square meters. If one of the area unit options is entered in the brackets, the statement will determine the default coordinate units from the DG1 file and then convert to the area unit entered. In the given example, the design area units would be converted to acres. Area unit options: "cm", "m", "km", "ha", "ft", "yd", "mi", "ac". The distance unit options must always be followed by ',1'.
PolyVolume	PolyVolume(20, "acft",1)	The first example with a number in the brackets will return the volume of a polygon assuming that the polygon is projected 20 units. Returning the volume in the default coordinate units specified in the project file (DG1). So if your default is meters the expression will return cubic meters. If one of the volume unit options is entered in the brackets, the statement will determine the default coordinate units from the DG1 file and then convert to the volume unit entered. In the given example, the polygon would be projected at 20 units and a volume would be calculated. The result would be converted to acre feet. If the polygon does not occupy a single plane, a best fit plane will be used for the projection. Volume unit options: "cm", "m", "km", "ft", "yd", "acft". The distance unit options must always be followed by ',1'.
PolyTons	PolyTons("bmodel.bmf", "-X -bm 0 500 0 500 0 500", "density", 1.8, 20, "top")	Procedure: A triangulation is created from the polyline at the given thickness and the given alignment. Reserves are run to obtain tonnage using the specified block model, block selection flags, density variable, and default density. The result is the total mass of all blocks captured by the triangulation created from the polyline. Argument Entries: block model name block model restrictions - to find acceptable entries, type `breserve_v2` in tcsh window, look at first half of help that pops up name of density variable in the block model default density that will be used if the block model density variable contains a construction default projection width applied to the polygon to create the triangulation How the polygon will align in the projection width specified. Alignment options: "top", "mid", "bot". This function can only be used on closed polygons.
PolyGrade	PolyGrade("bmodel.bmf", "", "au", 0, "wbm", "density", 1.8, 20, "bot")	First, a triangulation is created from the polyline, the given thickness, and the given alignment Next, reserves are run with the specified block model, block selection flags, grade variable, default grade, accumulation method, density variable, and default density. The result is the grade. Alignment options: "top", "mid", "bot". Accumulation options: "wbm", "wbv", "sum". This function can only be used on closed polygons.
PrimHeight	PrimHeight()
PrimWidth	PrimWidth()
PrimArea	PrimArea("ha")	The first example with empty brackets will return the cross sectional area of the primitive in the default coordinate units specified in the project file (DG1). So if your default is meters the expression will return square meters. If one of the area unit options is entered in the brackets, the statement will determine the default coordinate units from the DG1 file and then convert to the area unit entered. In the given example, the design area units would be converted to acres. Area unit options: "cm", "m", "km", "ha", "ft", "yd", "mi", "ac". The distance unit options must always be followed by ',1'.
PrimVolume	PrimVolume("ft")	The first example with empty brackets will return the volume of the primitive, based on primitive area multiplies by the object length, in the default coordinate units specified in the project file (DG1). So if your default is meters the expression will return cubic meters. If one of the volume unit options is entered in the brackets, the statement will determine the default coordinate units from the DG1 file and then convert to the volume unit entered. In the given example the result would be converted to feet. Volume unit options: "cm", "m", "km", "ft", "yd", "acft". The distance unit options must always be followed by ',1'.
PrimTons	PrimTons("bmodel.bmf", "", "density", 1.8, "MTKPRIM11", "mid", 10, 10)	First, a triangulation is created from the polyline and either: 1. The attached primitive 2. The named primitive with specified vertical alignment, height, and width Next, reserves is run with the specified block model, block selection flags, density variable, and default density The result is the total mass Primitive vertical alignment options: "top", "mid", "bot" Where to find predefined primitive names: $VULCAN/bin/flib/mtkprimitives.pgd
PrimGrade	PrimGrade("bmodel.bmf", "-X -C 'au ge 0.5' ", "au", 0, "wbv", "density", 1.8)	First, a triangulation is created from the polyline and either: 1. The attached primitive 2. The named primitive with specified vertical alignment, height, and width Next, reserves is run with the specified block model, block selection flags, grade variable, default grade, accumulation method, density variable, and default density The result is the grade Primitive vertical alignment options: "top", "mid", "bot" Accumulation options: "wbm", "wbv", "sum"

Date and time functions

Function	Example	Description
incrementdatebyday	incrementdatebyday("2021/1/2", 5) -> "2021/1/7"	Returns a string with date incremented by the specified number of days. A negative number will decrement the date by the number of days provided.
incrementdatebymonth	incrementdatebymonth("2021/1/2", 4) -> "2021/5/2"	Returns a string with date incremented by the specified number of months. A negative number will decrement the date by the number of days provided.
dayofweek	dayofweek("2021/5/11") -> "Tuesday"	Returns a string with the day of the week date for a given date. Days of the week are returned in English.
datevalue	datevalue("2021/3/25") -> 44279	Returns the number of days between 1900/1/1 and the specified date.
datetext	datetext(44280) -> "2021/3/26"	Creates a date from an integer that represents the number of days after 1900/1/1.
daysbetween	daysbetween("2000/1/4", "2000/1/1") -> -3	Gets the number of days between two specified dates.
getyear	getyear("2021/1/2") -> 2021	Returns the year component of a specified date.
getmonth	getmonth("2021/1/2") -> 1	Returns the month component of a specified date.
getday	getday("2021/1/2") -> 2	Returns the day of month component of a specified date.
setdate	setdate(2021, 1, 2) -> "2021/1/2"	Returns a valid date string from the parameters provided in Year, Month, Day entries.
datetoday	datetoday() -> "2021/3/26"	Gets the current date.

Key to abbreviated unit options

"cm"	Centimetres
"m"	Metres
"km"	Kilometres
"ha"	Hectares (only used in area calculations)
"ft"	Feet
"yd"	Yards
"ac"	Acres (only used in area calculations)
"acft"	Acre-feet (only used in volume calculations)
"mi"	Miles (only used in length and area calculations)

Tutorial

Templated Attributes tutorial

Operators and Functions

In this topic:

General Information

Format

Assigning Variables

Expression Functions

Arithmetic Operators

Logical Operators

Numeric Functions

String Functions

Object Functions

Polyline Functions

Date and time functions

Key to abbreviated unit options

Related topics

Tutorial