Overview of CASL Functions

The CASL interface provides you with run-time support to create and manage values that the routine might return. All CASL functions work on the client-side, unless otherwise specified. All server-side functions are noted in the category. Functions can be defined in many ways:

• CASL supports built-in functions that provide run-time support for your CASL program.
• The FUNCTION statement can be used to create new functions, using the CASL syntax, to be called in expressions. For more information, see FUNCTION Statement.
• CASL also supports common SAS functions.

For a list of supported common SAS functions, see Common Functions.

Many CASL statements and functions can be executed client-side. Because these functions do not require interaction with the CAS server, they run as CASL scripts without the need to establish a CAS session. Functions that interact with CAS tables or perform distributed computations require an active CAS session to ensure they are executed in the correct environment. Built-in CASL functions categorized as server-side functions always require a CAS session to execute.