Do logical expressions short-circuit?

[Klaatu]

I searched the forum and the help file but could not find the answer to my question.

Do logical expressions short-circuit? Hopefully you know what I mean.

I've seen some UDFs written (specifically the one I'm looking at is the IsPressed Library UDF by FireFox) as if they do, so was curious if these UDFs need to be modified.

Here's an example:

$ia_R = DllCall($vDLL, 'int', 'GetAsyncKeyState', 'int', '0x' & $iHexKey)
If (@Error = 0) And (BitAND($ia_R[0], 0x8000) = 0x8000) Then Return True

If the DllCall function fails the $ia_R may not be an array, so the reference to the variable in the next statement would error (or at least fail to work as intended) since it uses array subscripting. Correct? But if logical expressions short-circuit the second part of the AND test would not execute since Error would not be zero. Hopefully I've explained myself adequately.

Edited January 7, 2011 by Klaatu

[Richard Robertson]

I'm pretty sure they short circuit. An easy way to test is this.

If True And MsgBox(0, "", "") Then Exit

If the message box appears, you know that it is not short circuited. If it does not appear, then it does short circuit.

[Mithrandir]

Yes autoit does use short-circuit (also known by 'lazy-evaluation' ) when evaluating a logical expression. For those that don't know what this means, a short explanation:

When evaluating:

condition1 AND condition2 --> If condition1 is FALSE it doesn't check condition2 and the whole condition is FALSE

condition1 OR condition2 --> If condition1 is TRUE it doesn't check condition2 and the whole condition is TRUE.

Even though autoit has instructions like ExitLoop I prefer -to practise good programming habits- to use the short circuit and a boolean flag ($result) like in this function:

Func CompareStringwithArray($string, $array)
    ;function that checks if an element of the array is equal to a string
    Local $ind, $result
    $ind = 0
    $result = False
    While $ind < UBound($array) And Not $result
        If StringCompare($string, $array[$ind]) = 0 Then
            $result = True
        EndIf
        $ind = $ind + 1
    WEnd
    Return $result
EndFunc   ;==>CompareStringwithArray

Obviously, in some cases like using For..In..Next (iterating elements of a set) you have no other choice but to use the ExitLoop.

Edited January 8, 2011 by Mithrandir

[JohnOne]

But its asking id @error = 0, in which case there was no error with the call so there is an array.

[kylomas]

klaatu,

what is the prob/issue?

kylomas

[Mithrandir]

I forgot to adress this part of the question:

Here's an example:

$ia_R = DllCall($vDLL, 'int', 'GetAsyncKeyState', 'int', '0x' & $iHexKey)
If (@Error = 0) And (BitAND($ia_R[0], 0x8000) = 0x8000) Then Return True

If the DllCall function fails the $ia_R may not be an array, so the reference to the variable in the next statement would error (or at least fail to work as intended) since it uses array subscripting. Correct? But if logical expressions short-circuit the second part of the AND test would not execute since Error would not be zero. Hopefully I've explained myself adequately.

Indeed as you say If @error <> 0 then the second part of the condition is not checked and so $ia_R[0] is not accessed (which would cause an error in running time). Edited January 8, 2011 by Mithrandir

[jaberwacky]

But its asking id @error = 0, in which case there was no error with the call so there is an array.

So maybe he should only need to test @ERROR?

[kylomas]

klaatu, jaberwocky6669,

If you are trying to determine whether or not a key is pressed then you need both tests. GetAsyncKeyState sets the most significant bit to indicate that the key is down at the time of the call. As for the code logic, you will need a "false" leg to this processing also.

kylomas

[jchd]

The help file is explicit about ANDed/ORed conditions short-circuit, even if it mention that without its own topic. You can read about that point in Language Reference > Operators (bottom of page).

Since the behavior is officially documented, it's unlikely to change anytime soon as that could break too many scripts around.

[Klaatu]

The help file is explicit about ANDed/ORed conditions short-circuit, even if it mention that without its own topic. You can read about that point in Language Reference > Operators (bottom of page).

Since the behavior is officially documented, it's unlikely to change anytime soon as that could break too many scripts around.

Ah, thanks. I had missed that when searching the help file. Very good.

I'm not interested in it changing, just knowing what the rules are.

Thanks again. Case closed.