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Variants


To define a variable that contains any type of data, you can write code that uses the variant data type. To identify the type of data that the variable currently contains, Siebel VB stores a tag with the variant data. To examine this tag, you can use the VarType function.

Table 4 describes the types of values that a variant can contain.

Table 4. Types of Values That a Variant Can Contain
Type
Size of Data
Smallest Value
Largest Value

0  Empty

0

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

1  Null

0

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

2  Integer

2 bytes, short

Negative 32768.

Positive 32767.

3  Long

4 bytes, long

Negative 2.147E9.

Positive 2.147E9.

4  Single

4 bytes, float

Negative 3.402E38.

Negative 1.401E-45.

Positive 1.401E-45.

Positive 3.402E38.

5  Double

8 bytes, double

Negative 1.797E308.

Negative 4.94E-324.

Positive 4.94E-324.

Positive 1.797E308.

6  Currency

8 bytes, fixed

Negative 9.223E14.

Positive 9.223E14.

7  Date

8 bytes, double

Jan 1, 100 to Dec 31, 9999.

Not applicable.

8  String

up to 2 gigabytes

Length is limited by the amount of random access memory, up to 2 gigabytes.

Not applicable.

9  Object

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

If you define a variant that contains no data, then Siebel VB defaults the type to Empty. It does the following:

  • Converts an empty variant to zero when it uses this variant in a numeric expression
  • Converts an empty variant to an empty string when it uses this variant in a string expression

You can use the IsEmpty statement to determine if a variant is empty. For more information, see Is Variable Set Method.

A null variant does not include data. It only represents a result that is not valid or that is ambiguous. You can use the IsNull statement to determine if a variant contains a null value. Null indicates that a variant is not set. For more information, see Is Variable Null Method.

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