The EVALUATE function is essentially the reverse of the FORMAT function, allowing conversion of a string value into the defined data type. The syntax of the EVALUATE function is as follows:

[ BooleanVariable := ] EVALUATE ( ResultVariable, 
StringToBeConverted [, 9]

The handling of a runtime error can be done by specifying BooleanVariable or including EVALUATE in an expression to deal with an error, such as an IF statement. The ResultVariable data type will determine what data conversion the EVALUATE function will attempt. The format of the data in StringToBeConverted must be compatible with the data type of ResultVariable, otherwise, a runtime error will occur.

The optional parameter, number 9, is only used for XMLport data exporting. Use of the optional number 9 parameter will convert C/SIDE format data types into XML standard data types. This deals with the fact that several equivalent C/SIDE-XML data types are represented differently at the base system level, that is, under the covers. The C/SIDE data types for an EVALUATE result can include decimal, Boolean, datetime, date, time, integer, and duration.