idlastro / Miscellaneous (Non-Astronomy) Procedures: N_BYTES

[Source code]

NAME
N_bytes()
PURPOSE
To return the total number of bytes in data element
CALLING SEQUENCE
result = N_bytes(a)
INPUTS
a - any idl data element, scalar or array
OUTPUTS
total number of bytes in a is returned as the function value
(64bit longword scalar)
NOTES
(1) Not valid for object or pointer data types
(2) For a string array, the number of bytes is computed after conversion
    with the BYTE() function, i.e. each element has the same length,
    equal to the maximum individual string length.
MODIFICATION HISTORY
Version 1  By D. Lindler  Oct. 1986
Include new IDL data types    W. Landsman          June 2001
Now return a 64bit integer    W. Landsman          April 2006