# bigatom type

Definition: | include builtins\bigatom.e bigatom identifier -- or -- integer i = bigatom(object x)
Description: | Declare a new bigatom variable, or test whether x is a bigatom(i=1) or not(i=0).
Comments: | This serves to define the bigatom type. You can also call it like an ordinary function to determine if an object is an bigatom. For full technical details of the internal structure (which is quite straightforward but not something you ever really need to know) please refer to builtins\bigatom.e Note that NO_VALUE is no longer deemed a valid bigatom, as of 24/8/18. NO_VALUE is returned for division by zero, log or square root of a negative number, string with unrecognised characters passed to ba_new(), etc. This behaviour can be reverted to the original by invoking allow_novalue(true) [a new procedure], at which point you should of course double-check that the code is correctly checking for NO_VALUE as and when appropriate. Use `ba_scale()` to specify the required precision before invoking `ba_new()` to create an instance value.
Example: |
    include bigatom.e
    bigatom ba = ba_new("5.99")
See Also: | ba_new, ba_scale