Commands and functions have names, too. In the expression Log( 4 ), Log is the name of the logarithmic function.
Names must start with an alphabetic character or underscore and can continue with the following:
You can still have a name that is any other sequence of characters. If the name does not follow the rules above, it needs to be quoted and placed inside a special parser directive called Name(). For example, to use a global variable with the name taxable income(2011), you must use Name() every time the variable appears in a script:
Name( "taxable income( 2011 )" ) = 456000;
tax = .25;
Print( tax * Name( "taxable income( 2011 )") );
114000
Name() is harmless when it is not needed. For example, tax and Name("tax") are equivalent.
Note: Name() is not a function that gets called when the script is run; it is a syntax marker for expressing names that are ambiguous. To evaluate the name of a column in an expression, use Column().