Arithmetic
operators
Arithmetic
operatorsThe arithmetic operators are applied in the order presented below. You may use parentheses to override these default priorities.
For example, 3*4+5 is calculated as ( 3 x 4 ) = 12; then 5 is added to the total, giving a result of 17.
However, in the expression 3*(4+5), the sum in parentheses is calculated first; ( 4 + 5 ) = 9; then the total is multiplied 3, giving a result of 27.
Name |
Symbol |
Format |
Description |
Exponentiation |
^ |
Number^exponent, e.g. 5^3 |
Five to the power of three (5³), where 3 is the exponent number, giving the result 125 |
Multiplication |
* |
Number1*number2, e.g. 5*3 |
Five times three |
Division |
/ |
Number1/number2, e.g.15/3 |
Fifteen divided by three |
Addition |
+ |
Number1+number2, e.g. 10+5 |
Ten plus five |
Subtraction |
- |
Number1-number, e.g. 20-5 |
Twenty minus five |
See also Arithmetic Functions.
Comparison operatorsName |
Symbol |
Format |
Description |
Equal to |
= |
Expr1 = Expr2 |
Condition true if Expr1 equal to Expr2 |
Case sensitive text comparison |
== |
Text1 == Text2 |
Condition true if Text1 is identical to Text2 (can only be used for text expressions) |
Less than |
< |
Expr1 < Expr2 |
Condition true if numeric Expr1 less than numeric Expr2 |
Less than or equal to |
=< |
Expr1 =< Expr2 |
Condition true if numeric Expr1 less than or equal to numeric Expr2 |
Greater than |
> |
Expr1 > Expr2 |
Condition true if numeric Expr1 greater than numeric Expr2 |
Greater than or equal to |
>= |
Expr1 >= Expr2 |
Condition true if numeric Expr1 equal to or greater than numeric Expr2 |
Not equal to |
<> |
Expr1 <> Expr2 |
Condition true if Expr1 not equal to Expr2 |
Text comparison |
like |
Text1 like Text2 |
Condition true if Text1 matches Text2. Text may contain wildcard symbols. The following condition is true if s1 is any 3-character string, e.g. 's1' like '???' Matching is case-insensitive. |
Numerical range comparison |
between |
Expr between (Expr1,Expr2) |
Condition is true if Expr is greater than or equal to Expr1 and less than or equal to Expr2 e.g. age between (18,60) |
The following symbols may be used with the like operator.
Symbol |
Description |
% |
Represents any number of characters (including none) in a term for a match to be found. For example th%e will match 'the', 'thee', 'three', 'thylacine' and all terms starting with 'th' and finishing with 'e', with or without characters between 'a' and 'e'. |
? |
Represents exactly one character in a term for a match to be found, e.g. ab?de will match 'abide', 'abode' and all terms starting with 'ab' and finishing with 'de', with any single character between. |
Text concatenation operatorSymbol |
Format |
Description |
& |
Text1 & Text2 |
Evaluates to the text formed by joining together the terms Text1 and Text2. Useful for creating messages containing free text with embedded question values. |
Logical operatorsFunction |
Format |
Description |
not |
not Cond1 |
Condition is true if Cond1 is false |
and |
Cond1 and Cond2 |
Condition is true if both Cond1 and Cond2 are true |
or |
Cond1 or Cond2 |
Condition is true if either Cond1 or Cond2 (or both) are true |
When using not it is advisable to also use the general function isknown to avoid unexpected results concerning unknown data.
For example, the condition 'not q1 = 8' evaluates to true if q1 has a value that is not 8, but it also evaluates to true when q1 does not have a value as a result of not having been filled in.
If you use isknown as well as not you could create the condition 'isknown(q1) and not q1 = 8'
This evaluates to false when q1 has not been filled in, avoiding confusion.
Note that the condition 'isknown(q1) and not q1 = 8' is equivalent to 'q1 <> 8'
This is because <> is treated as a single operator, whereas "not q1 = 8" the "not" is applied after the "=" has been evaluated.