If...Then...Else

If-then-else clauses have the form:

if <conditional-expression> then <expression1> else <expression2>

Both <expression1> and <expression2> must have the same type, and <conditional-expression> must be a singular Boolean.

If <conditional-expression> is true, then <expression1> is evaluated and returned; otherwise <expression2> is evaluated and returned.

If-then-else clauses have been implemented as late-binding, so potential missing inspectors on the branch not taken are ignored. This makes it safe to write cross-platform expressions without worrying about causing errors for incorrect OS-specific Inspectors. For example, you can write:

  • Q: if name of operating system contains "Win" then name of application "conf.exe" of registry else "conf.exe"
  • A: conf.exe

On a non-Windows OS, this expression runs the else expression and avoid attempting to inspect a non-existent registry.

If-statements can be useful for reporting user-defined errors:

  • Q: if (year of current date as integer < 2006) then "Still good" else error "Expired"
  • E: User-defined error: Expired

This expression throws a user-defined error if the argument is false.

  • Q: if (name of operating system = "WinXP") then "wired" else if (name of operating system ="WinNT") then "tired" else "expired"
  • A: wired

This expression does a three-way test of the operating system.

Watch the video about the If-Then-Else in Relevance Language to have more information about this clause.