VMS Help Lexicals, F$INTEGER  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

    Returns the integer equivalent of the result of the specified
    expression.

    Format

      F$INTEGER(expression)

1 - Return Value

    An integer value that is equivalent to the specified expression.

2 - Argument

 expression

    Specifies the expression to be evaluated. Specify either an
    integer or a character string expression.

    If you specify an integer expression, the F$INTEGER function
    evaluates the expression and returns the result. If you specify
    a string expression, the F$INTEGER function evaluates the
    expression, converts the resulting string to an integer, and
    returns the result.

    After evaluating a string expression, the F$INTEGER function
    converts the result to an integer in the following way. If
    the resulting string contains characters that form a valid
    integer, the F$INTEGER function returns the integer value. If
    the string contains characters that do not form a valid integer,
    the F$INTEGER function returns the integer 1 if the string begins
    with T, t, Y, or y. The function returns the integer 0 if the
    string begins with any other character.

3 - Example

  $ A = "23"
  $ B = F$INTEGER("-9" + A)
  $ SHOW SYMBOL B
    B = -923 Hex=FFFFFC65 Octal=176145

      This example shows how to use the F$INTEGER function to equate
      a symbol to the integer value returned by the function. In the
      example, the F$INTEGER function returns the integer equivalent
      of the string expression ("-9" + A). First, the F$INTEGER
      function evaluates the string expression by concatenating
      the string literal "-9" with the string literal "23". Note
      that the value of the symbol A is substituted automatically
      in a string expression. Also note that the plus sign (+) is a
      string concatenation operator because both arguments are string
      literals.

      After the string expression is evaluated, the F$INTEGER
      function converts the resulting character string ("-923") to
      an integer, and returns the value -923. This integer value is
      assigned to the symbol B.