Help file, language reference, operators

[rudi]

Hi.

for the "==" operator the language reference is telling:

Tests if two strings are equal. Case-sensitive. The left and right values are converted to strings if they are not strings already. This operator should only be used if string comparisons need to be case-sensitive.

 

This operator "==" can also be used to check, if a value is really "true" or just not 0 / false:

 

; Autoit v 3.3.14.5

Dim $aValues[9] = [True, False, "Just-some-string",-2,-1,0,1,2,100]

For $CheckThis In $aValues
    ConsoleWrite("-------------- " & $CheckThis & " ----------------" & @CRLF)
    If $CheckThis = True Then
        ConsoleWrite("It's true, when using one ""="" doing the compare." & @CRLF)
        If $CheckThis == True Then
            ConsoleWrite("still true, when using two ""=="" doing the compare." & @CRLF)
        Else
            ConsoleWrite("It's *NO MORE* true, when using two ""=="" doing the compare!" & @CRLF)
        EndIf
    Else
        ConsoleWrite("It's *NOT* true" & @CRLF)
    EndIf
Next

-------------- True ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
still true, when using two "==" doing the compare.
-------------- False ----------------
It's *NOT* true
-------------- Just-some-string ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
It's *NO MORE* true, when using two "==" doing the compare!
-------------- -2 ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
It's *NO MORE* true, when using two "==" doing the compare!
-------------- -1 ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
It's *NO MORE* true, when using two "==" doing the compare!
-------------- 0 ----------------
It's *NOT* true
-------------- 1 ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
It's *NO MORE* true, when using two "==" doing the compare!
-------------- 2 ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
It's *NO MORE* true, when using two "==" doing the compare!
-------------- 100 ----------------
It's true, when using one "=" doing the compare.
It's *NO MORE* true, when using two "==" doing the compare!

 

Regards, Rudi.

[argumentum]

...case sensitivity or exactness. Do you really feel that the help file needs to be explicit in regards of non-string operations ?, it is implied. Anyone with experience knows.
If to amend the help file, how would you phrase it @rudi ? 

[Nine]

From my personal view, it comes from other other programming languages.  Most novice programmers don't bother to look at those simplest operations, they put codes together and if it works without error, it must be right...

[rudi]

IMHO precise documentation is always a very valuable thing.

 

To be able to tell if a result value is really TRUE or just "not zero" might be helpful. Not much extra text, pointing out the difference clearly.

Tests if two strings are equal. Case-sensitive. The left and right values are converted to strings if they are not strings already. This operator should only be used if string comparisons need to be case-sensitive. Testing boolean with "$Value == TRUE" will only match, if the $Value really is TRUE, not just different from FALSE / 0, as "=" does.

Never mind, just my 2 cent 😉

[jchd]

34 minutes ago, rudi said:

Testing boolean with "$Value == TRUE" will only match, if the $Value really is TRUE,

This is a direct, obvious consequence of what's already stated just above in the help file as it is right now:

34 minutes ago, rudi said:

The left and right values are converted to strings if they are not strings already.

Assuming $value = (1 = 1), that is $value = True, we get:

VarGetType($Value) : 'Bool' which implies that it has to be converted to a string
String($Value) -> 'True'

Same for the boolean constant TRUE:
String(TRUE) -> 'True'

So your comparison boils down to:
'True' == 'True'
which is trivially True.

 

I don't see what's unclear in the current statement about ==

Edited March 31, 2020 by jchd