ABS Function

Computes the absolute value of a given numeric value. The value can be a Decimal or Integer literal or a reference to a column containing numeric values. 

Basic Usage

Column reference example:

derive type:single value:ABS(MyInteger) as:'abs_MyInteger'

Output: Generates the new abs_MyInteger column containing the absolute value of each value found in the MyInteger column. 

Numeric literal example:

delete row:(ABS(MyInteger) == 5)

Output: Deletes all rows from the dataset in which the absolute value of the entry in the MyInteger column is 5.

Syntax and Arguments

derive type:single value:ABS(numeric_value)

For more information on syntax standards, see Language Documentation Syntax Notes.

numeric_value

Name of the column or numeric literal whose absolute value is to be computed.

• Missing input values generate missing results.
• Literal numeric values should not be quoted. Quoted values are treated as strings. 
• Multiple columns and wildcards are not supported.

Usage Notes:

Examples

Example - Basic ABS function

Source:

Your source data looks like the following, which measures coordinate distances from a fixed point on a grid:

Transform:

You can use the following transform to derive the absolute values of these columns, which now measure distance from the fixed point:

derive type:single value: ABS(X) as: 'distanceX'

derive type:single value: ABS(Y) as: 'distanceY'

Results:

You can then use POW and SQRT functions to compute the total distance.