Functional analysis has been incorporated widely into appraisal methods for decades. These methods, from documentation strategy to macroappraisal, are discussed, and the usefulness and limitations of functional analysis in appraisal are examined. Yet, while archival thinkers have focused on function in appraisal, little has been written on function in description, although it appears in the profession's standards. The influence of records management is evident in the description of institutional records using functional analysis, which are an increasing part of archival responsibility. Caution is needed, however, before we try to apply function as the principal descriptor to all our archival records. (Contains 72 notes.)