Dynamics NAV 2013 discusses assignment statements in C/AL code. Assignment statements set a variable to a value, with the variable representing different values over time. The syntax uses a colon equals (:=) assignment operator to set a variable to a value or expression. Statements can span multiple lines, and variables can automatically convert between compatible types in assignments, with limitations.

1. Dynamics NAV 2013
Shan Abeywicrema | Jinasena Infotech | www.jinasenainfotech.com

2.  Assignment statements assign a value to a
variable. This means that a variable can
represent different values at different times.

3.  Assignment means to set a variable to a
value.
 When a variable has a value, it keeps that
value until another value is assigned to it, or
until the current set of code ends and the
system no longer keeps track of the variable

4.  A statement in programming context is a
single complete programming instruction
that is written as code

5.  Certain function calls, such as the MESSAGE
function, can be a statement on their own.
They are known as function call statements
 [return value :=] <Function Call>
 Example:: MESSAGE function

6.  The syntax of an assignment statement is
almost as easy as the syntax of the function
call statement. The syntax is as follows
 <variable> := <expression>
 Example :: Integer Number:=10;

7.  The “colon equals” (:=) is known as the
assignment operator. You use it to assign a
value or an expression that evaluates to a
value to a variable.
 :=

8.  A single programming statement may span
several code lines; one code line may consist
of multiple statements.
 Therefore, the C/AL compiler must be able to
detect when one statement ends and another
statement begins.
 [ <statement> { ; <statement> } ]
 Example Integer Num:=10;

9.  Before you can assign a variable to a value,
the type of the value must match the type of
the variable. However, within limits, you can
automatically convert certain types in an
assignment operation.

10.  You can convert variables of string data types
(code and text) automatically from one to the
other. For example, if Description is a
variable of type Text, and CodeNumber is a
variable of type Code, the following
statement is valid:
 CodeNumber := Description
 Automatic conversion does have limitations. For example, if the value of the Description text
variable has more characters than the length of the CodeNumber variable, an error occurs
when the program runs and executes this statement. This type of error is known as a run-time
error.

11.  Variables of the numeric data types (integer,
decimal, option, and char) can convert
automatically from one to another

12.  Demonstration:
Create a Simple Assignment Statement

24.  Expression
An expression specifies the information to
generate a desired value. Similar to a variable
and a constant, an expression has a type and
a value. expression is evaluated at run time to
determine its value.
Quantity * UnitCost