The % (integer divide) operator divides two numbers and returns the integer part of the result. The result is calculated by repeatedly subtracting the divisor from the dividend as long as the dividend is larger than the divisor. During this subtraction, the absolute values of both the dividend and the divisor are used: the sign of the final result is the same as that which would result from regular division.

If the result cannot be expressed as a whole number, the operation is in error and fails—that is, the result must not have more digits than the current setting of NUMERIC DIGITS. For example, 10000000000%3 requires 10 digits for the result (3333333333) and would, therefore, fail if NUMERIC DIGITS 9 were in effect.