# refCount {#refcount}

**Parent topic:**[Functions](../../Functions/category.md)

## Syntax {#syntax}

`refCount(varname)`

## Arguments {#arguments}

**varname** is a string indicating a variable name.

## Details {#details}

Return the number of times a variable is referred to.

## Examples {#examples}

```
db=database("",VALUE,1 2 3)
refCount(`db);
// output: 1

db1=db
db2=db
refCount(`db);
// output: 3
```

