── FIRST ── ( ──<string expression>── ) ───────────────────────────────┤

The FIRST function returns, as a real value, the ordinal position in the EBCDIC, ASCII, or hexadecimal collating sequence of the first character in the string expression. This function returns an ordinal position in the EBCDIC collating sequence if the string expression is EBCDIC, returns an ordinal position in the ASCII collating sequence if the string expression is ASCII, and returns an ordinal position in the hexadecimal collating sequence if the string expression is hexadecimal. A run-time error occurs if the string expression is the null string.

Examples of the FIRST Function

FIRST("ABC")   = 193 (4"C1")

FIRST(7"NNXX") =  78 (4"4E")

FIRST(4"F1F2") =  15 (4"0F")