The comparison operators (<, <=, >, >=) work for numbers, quoted strings, and matrices. For matrices, they produce a matrix of results. If you compare mixed arguments, such as strings with numbers or matrices, the result is a missing value. Comparisons involving lists are not allowed and also return missing values.
The equality operators (== and !=) work for numbers, quoted strings, matrices, and lists. For matrices, they produce a matrix of results; for lists, they produce a single result. If you test equality of mixed results (for example. strings with numbers or matrices) the result is 0 or unequal.
Range check operators let you check whether something falls between two specified values:
a = 1;
Show( 1 <= a < 3 );
b = 2;
Show( 2 < b <= 3 );
1 <= a < 3 = 1;
2 < b <= 3 = 0;
All the comparison operators are eliding operators. That means JMP treats arguments joined by comparison operators as one big clause, as opposed to the way most expressions are evaluated one operator at a time. Evaluating as a single clause produces different results than the more usual method of evaluating in pieces. For example, the following two statements are different:
12 < a < 13;
(12 < a) < 13;
The first statement checks whether a is between 12 and 13, because all three arguments and both operators are read and evaluated together. The second statement uses parentheses to regroup the operations explicitly to evaluate from left to right, which would be the normal way to evaluate most expressions. Thus it first checks whether 12 is less than a, returning 1 if true or 0 if false. Then it checks whether the result is less than 13, which is always true because 0 and 1 are both less than 13.
All the comparison operators are elided when they are used in matched pairs or in the unmatched pairs <... <= and <=... <. What this means is that if you want a comparison statement to be evaluated one comparison operator at a time, you should use parentheses ( ) to control the order of operations explicitly.
Equal(a, b, ...)
a==b==...
Description
Compares all the listed values and tests if they are all equal to each other.
Returns
1 (true) if all arguments evaluate to the same value.
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
Two or more variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
If more than two arguments are specified, a 1 is returned only if all arguments are exactly the same. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
The comparison is case-sensitive for quoted string comparisons.
Greater(a, b, ...)
a>b>...
Description
Compares all the list values and tests if, in each pair, the left value is greater than the right.
Returns
1 (true) if a evaluates strictly greater than b (and b evaluates strictly greater than c, and so on).
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
Two or more variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
If more than two arguments are specified, a 1 is returned only if each argument is greater than the one that follows it. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
Greater, Less, Greater Or Equal, and Less Or Equal can also be strung together (as in 0 < x <= 5). If you do not group with parentheses, JMP evaluates each pair left to right. You can also use parentheses to explicitly tell JMP how to evaluate the expression.
Greater or Equal(a, b, ...)
a>=b>=...
Description
Compares all the list values and tests if, in each pair, the left value is greater than or equal to the right.
Returns
1 (true) if a evaluates strictly greater than or equal to b (and b evaluates strictly greater than or equal to c, and so on).
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
Two or more variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
If more than two arguments are specified, a 1 is returned only if each argument is greater than or equal to the one that follows it. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
Greater, Less, Greater Or Equal, and Less Or Equal can also be strung together (as in 0 < x <= 5). If you do not group with parentheses, JMP evaluates each pair left to right. You can also use parentheses to explicitly tell JMP how to evaluate the expression.
Is Missing(expr)
Description
Returns 1 if the expression yields a missing value and 0 otherwise.
See Also
Is Missing in the Scripting Guide
Less(a, b, ...)
a<b<...
Description
Compares all the list values and tests if, in each pair, the left value is less than the right.
Returns
1 (true) if a evaluates strictly less than b (and b evaluates strictly less than c, and so on).
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
Two or more variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
If more than two arguments are specified, a 1 is returned only if each argument is less than the one that follows it. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
Greater, Less, Greater Or Equal, and Less Or Equal can also be strung together (as in 0 < x <= 5). If you do not group with parentheses, JMP evaluates each pair left to right. You can also use parentheses to explicitly tell JMP how to evaluate the expression.
Less Less Equal(a, b, c, ...)
a<b<=c<=...
Description
Range check, exclusive below and inclusive above.
Returns
1 (true) if b is greater than a and less than or equal to c.
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
a, b, c
Variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
Returns 1 when two conditions are met: the first argument is less than the second argument, and each remaining argument is less than or equal to its argument on the right. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
Less or Equal(a, b, ...)
a<=b<=...
Description
Compares all the list values and tests if, in each pair, the left value is less than or equal to the right.
Returns
1 (true) if a evaluates strictly less than or equal to b (and b evaluates strictly less than or equal to c, and so on).
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
Two or more variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
If more than two arguments are specified, a 1 is returned only if each argument is less than or equal to the one that follows it. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
Greater, Less, Greater Or Equal, and Less Or Equal can also be strung together (as in 0 < x <= 5). If you do not group with parentheses, JMP evaluates each pair left to right. You can also use parentheses to explicitly tell JMP how to evaluate the expression.
Less Equal Less(a, b, c, ...)
a<=b<c<...
Description
A range check, inclusive below and exclusive above.
Returns
1 (true) if b is greater than or equal to a and less than c.
0 (false) otherwise.
Arguments
a, b, c
Variables, references, matrices, or numbers.
Notes
Returns 1 when two conditions are met: the first argument is less than or equal to the second argument, and each remaining argument is less than its argument on the right. This is typically used in conditional statements and to control loops.
Not Equal(a, b)
a!=b
Description
Compares a and b and tests if they are equal.
Returns
0 (false) if a and b evaluate to the same value.
1 (true) otherwise.
Argument
a, b
Any variable or number.
Notes
Mostly used for conditional statements and loop control.