The IF statement is a valuable tool used to verify a conditional
expression. The conditional expression can be as basic as testing the
value of a variable or can be expanded to use VER statement constructs
and Boolean capabilities. This topic first defines the complete
syntax of the IF statement. Other more detailed topics describe:
- Basic IF value testing
- IF statement with VER constructs
- IF statement with Boolean operators
- IF statement with VSYM built-in function
IF statements are valid in the )INIT, )REINIT, )PROC, )ABCINIT, and )ABCPROC panel sections.
The syntax of the IF statement is shown here.
>>-IF(-| conditional-expression |-------------------------------> >--+--------------------------------------------------+--)----->< | .----------------------------------------------. | | V | | '---boolean-operator--| conditional-expression |-+-' conditional-expression .-,-----. V | |--+-variable--operator----value-+-----------------------------------+--| | .-,---------. | | V | | '-VER--(--variable--+-------------+--,--keyword----+-------+-+--)-' '-,--NONBLANK-' '-value-'
IF statement…
⋮
(Optional ELSE statement…)
⋮where:
- Boolean-operator
- The character symbol & or characters AND (AND Boolean operator) or the character symbol | or characters OR (OR Boolean operator).
- ELSE
- The optional statement that specifies alternate processing if the IF condition is not satisfied.