Syntax

Abs(expression)

Description

Returns the absolute value of expression.

Comments

If expression is Null, then Null is returned. Empty is treated as 0.

The type of the result is the same as that of expression, with the following exceptions:

If expression is an Integer that overflows its legal range, then the result is returned as a Long. This only occurs with the largest negative Integer:

    Dim a As Variant

    Dim i As Integer
    i = -32768
    a = Abs(i)      'Result is a Long.
    i = Abs(i)      'Overflow!

If expression is a Long that overflows its legal range, then the result is returned as a Double. This only occurs with the largest negative Long:

    Dim a As Variant

    Dim l As Long
    l = -2147483648
    a = Abs(l)      'Result is a Double.
    l = Abs(l)      'Overflow!

If expression is a Currency value that overflows its legal range, an overflow error is generated.

Example

This example assigns absolute values to variables of four types and displays the result.

Sub Main()

  s1% = Abs(-10.55)
  s2& = Abs(-10.55)
  s3! = Abs(-10.55)
  s4# = Abs(-10.55)
  MsgBox "The absolute values are: " & s1% & "," & s2& & "," & s3! & "," & s4#
End Sub

See Also

Sgn (function).

A