:=
 Inline assign--binary                           (Assignment)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Syntax

     <idVar> := <exp>

 Type

     All

 Operands

     <idVar> is a valid variable identifier of any storage class,
     including a field variable.  If <idVar> is not visible or does not
     exist, a private variable is created and assigned the result of <exp>.

     <exp> is the expression whose result is assigned to <idVar>.

 Description

     The inline assignment operator (:=) assigns values of any data type to
     variables of any storage class.  The operator evaluates <exp>, assigns
     the resulting value to <idVar>, and returns the resulting value as the
     return value of the operation.  This latter behavior permits multiple
     assignments such as idVar1 := idVar2 := value.  Unlike the simple assign
     operator (=), the inline assignment operator (:=) can be used anywhere
     an expression or constant is allowed, including variable declaration
     statements.  With a variable declaration statement, assignment
     initializes a variable.  Note, however, you cannot declare an array and
     initialize elements within the same program statement.

     If the reference to <idVar> is ambiguous (i.e., not declared at compile
     time and not explicitly qualified with an alias), <idVar> is always
     assumed to be MEMVAR.  At runtime, if no private or public variable
     exists with the specified name, a private variable is created.  You can
     assign field variables with the := operator by declaring the field
     variable name in a FIELD statement or referring to the field name
     prefaced by the FIELD-> alias or the name of the work area.

 Examples

     .  Several examples of inline assignment follow:

        LOCAL nValue := 10
        //
        IF (dDate := (DATE() - 1000)) = CTOD("12/20/79")
        //
        ? SQRT(nValue := (nValue ** 2))
        //
        cTransNo := cSortNo := (CustId + DTOC(DATE()))

     .  This last example performs multiple assignments using the
        inline assignment operator as you would with the STORE command.  When
        := is used in this way, the assignments are executed from right to
        left.  This feature is particularly useful when you need to store the
        same value to many different fields, possibly in different database
        files.

        CustFile->CustId := TransFile-> ;
           TransNo := (CustId + DTOC(DATE())

See Also: ++ — = (assign) = (compound) STORE*