type char to type num mapping

Question

q)type variable

returns the type num of the arguement variable.

Is there a mapping that can produce the type char from a type num or do I have to create that dictionary myself?

Ideally something like

q)typeChar 1
i

Answer 1

You can use .Q.t.

q).Q.t abs type `test
"s"
q).Q.t abs type 5i
"i"

Edit: Or even better just use .Q.ty

This seems to return upper case for atoms and lower case for lists.

q).Q.ty `test
"S"
q).Q.ty `test`test2
"s"

Answer 2

One option is to use 'key' function :

Reference: http://code.kx.com/q/ref/metadata/#key

Wiki says: Given a simple list, returns the name of the type as a symbol:

So you can make function like:

               q) tyeInChar:{key x,()}
               q) typeInChar  1i // output  `int
               q) typeInChar  "s"  //output `char