I have the following question from one of our users:

Is it true that Focus supports no COS(), SIN() or other trig functions?

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks. Suzy

RON HANSARD WRITES:

Suzy,

FOCUS was not created to support scientific or analytical applications. The general business community was the target for FOCUS development efforts. However, FOCUS does support some basic analytical functions and you can certainly (and easily) create your own higher math functions.

Ron

Hi Ron

Thanks for your reply. I believe our institution is single-handedly responsible for bringing a working version of ANALYSE to the unix platform! So we have some people in our group who push Focus beyond the typical business requirements.

I know we can go the User-Written Subroutine route for the trig functions, or use DEFINE-based -INCLUDEs. Has your organization settled on a way to incorporate this kind of functionality into Focus?

Thanks. Suzy

I have a library of FOCUS functions that I've written/collected over the years that I use and whenever I need something new I just create it. Some companies I've worked with are very structured and create lots of user-written subroutines to accommodate special needs, but most don't. FOCUS is such a robust environment that you can pretty much do ANYTHING you desire. I would think that if an organization wanted to create some advanced functions for everyone to share, user-written subroutines would be the way to go. If it's pretty much limited to one person, I'd just do a FOCUS routine and INCLUDE it. The good thing about FOCUS is that you are NEVER limited in what you can do.

Thanks, Ron

I've contacted the user who asked the question and he's still in the 'just wondering' stage. Since he's a very experienced user, he may come up with his own solution in Focus.

Suzy