Pseudo Functions

Spectre pseudo functions are not proper functions—they do not result in any run time calculations. Instead, these functions substitute expressions or parts of expressions into other expressions.

Define a named expression, or substitute with the specified named expression, defined earlier.
calc(calc_name : string) : expression

For example:

`calc("Revenue")` substitutes the expression named Revenue, defined earlier, into the calculation

calc "Accounts with Late Charges" `filter(dimcount("Account ID"), sum(value("Late Charge Amount")) > 0)` when used in a cPlan, calculates the number of accounts with late charges

  calc "Calendar_sort" ```
       switch(calc("Month Name"),
       "January", 1,
       "February", 2,
       "March", 3,
       "April", 4,
       "May", 5,
       "June", 6,
       "July", 7,
       "August", 8,
       "September", 9,
       "October", 10,
       "November", 11,
       12)```
facilitates sorts on the month number instead of the month name

calc "Current Date" `date(file_contents("current-date.txt"))` when used in a cPlan, sets the Current Date based on what is in the text file

Parse the specified string as an expression, and evaluate it.
eval(expression_string : string) : expression

For example:

`eval("1 + 1")` returns 2

`eval("length(\\"test\\")")` returns 4

add "First" `eval("value(\\"column1\\")")` adds a column to the cBase named First with the same data as column1

Return the value of a parameter. Use param() to get the value of the parameter when you are not at the top level of a string, for example, in the middle of an expression.
param(parameter_name : string) : expression

For example:

`param("Year")` returns the value set for the Year parameter

filter ```value("Payment Status") = "Closed" and   
      value("Payments") > 0 and 
      value("Service Month") >= same_period(value("Service Month"),
        param("Start Month"),"YYYY-MM") and 
      value("Service Month") <= same_period(value("Service Month"), 
        param("End Month"),"YYYY-MM") ```

—when this filter is part of a cPlan with parameters, the start month and end month are evaluated before the rest of the expression

Determine if a parameter contains a specified value.
param_contains(parameter_name : string, value : string) : expression

For example:

`param_contains("State", "Ohio")` determines if the State parameter value is Ohio

calc "Total" `if(param_contains("Summary","SumA"),sum(value("SumA")),sum(value("SumB")))` when used in a cPlan, calculates the total using data from SumA or SumB, depending on the value set for the parameter named Summary

Determine if a parameter matches the value of a column. If the column is a dimension with groups, and a parameter value matches the name of a group, then param_match checks for a column value match within that group, as though using `group([column_name], [param_value])`
param_match(parameter_name : string, column_name : string) : expression
If column_name is absent, parameter_name is used as the column name. A parameter can also be used for column_name.

For example:

`param_match("State")` determines if the State parameter value matches the value in the State column

calc "Brand Cases" `calc("Cases")` filter=`param_match("user-select-brand", "Brand")` label="First Selection" calculates cases for the user selected brand

calc "XXX Cases" `calc("Cases")` filter=`param_match("user-select-dimension-value", param("select-dimension"))` label="First Selection" calculates cases labeled "First Selection" based on the value of the parameters: user-select-dimension-value and select-dimension

See also: Alphabetized Functions for Spectre.