Operators
To build FlowForce expressions, use the operators described in the table below.
Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
== | Checks if a and b are equal. For numbers, the operator compares numeric values; for strings, it compares code points. | 2 + 3 == 5 computes true
2 + 3 == 4 computes false |
!= | Checks if a and b are not equal. Equivalent to the following expressions:
•a != b •not (a == b) •a <> b | 2 + 2 != 5 computes true
3 + 2 != 5 computes false |
< | Checks if a is less than b. Numeric comparison for numbers; code-point comparison for strings. | 4 < 5 computes true |
<= | Checks if a is less than or equal to b. | 5 <= 5 computes true |
> | Checks if a is greater than b. | 5 > 1 computes true |
>= | Checks if a is greater than or equal to b. | 5 >= 5 computes true |
+ | Adds two values (numbers or strings). | 1 + 1 computes 2 |
- | Subtracts b from a. | 2 - 1 computes 1 |
* | Multiplies a and b. | 3 * 2 computes 6 |
/ | Divides a by b. | 6 / 3 computes 2 |
String comparisons
FlowForce Server compares strings character by character, based on their Unicode code points. A code point is the numeric value assigned to each character in the Unicode standard. Code point comparison is numeric, not alphabetical. For example, 'A' is less than 'a' because the code point of 'A' (65) is less than that of 'a' (97).
String comparison rules
The following string comparison rules apply:
•If two strings start with the same sequence of characters, FlowForce skips this shared prefix and compares only the remaining characters.
oAs soon as a difference in code points is found, the comparison result is determined: If the code point of the first string’s differing character is less than that of the second, the first string is considered less than the second. If it is greater, the first string is greater than the second.
oNo further characters are examined.
•An empty string is considered less than a non-empty string.
The table below provides some examples of string comparison.
Expression | Evaluates to | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
'apple' == 'apple' | true | The strings are the same. |
'apple' < 'banana' | true | 'a' (97) is less than 'b' (98) at the first differing character. |
'FlowForce' < 'FlowFun' | true | The common prefix FlowF is ignored; the next characters are then compared: 'o' (111) is less than 'u' (117). |
Parentheses
Use parentheses to control the order of evaluation and override the default operator precedence.
Examples
2 + 3 * 4 computes 14 (multiplication first)
(2 + 3) * 4 computes 20 (addition evaluated first due to parentheses) |