Description
Assigns values to variables or object properties or object references to object variables.
Syntax
variablename = expression
|
Argument |
Description |
|---|---|
|
variablename |
The name of the variable or object property to which you want to assign a value. Variablename can include dot notation to qualify the variable with one or more object names. |
|
expression |
An expression whose datatype is compatible with variablename. |
Usage
Use assignment statements to assign values to variables. To assign a value to a variable anywhere in a script, use the equal sign (=). For example:
String1 = "Part is out of stock" TaxRate = .05
No multiple assignments
Since the equal sign is also a logical operator, you cannot assign more than one variable in a single statement. For example, the following statement does not assign the value 0 to A and B:
A=B=0 // This will not assign 0 to A and B.
This statement first evaluates B=0 to true or FALSE and then tries to assign this boolean value to A. When A is not a boolean variable, this line produces an error when compiled.
Assigning array values
You can assign multiple array values with one statement, such as:
int Arr[]
Arr = {1, 2, 3, 4}You can also copy array contents. For example, this statement copies the contents of Arr2 into array Arr1:
Arr1 = Arr2
Operator shortcuts
The PowerScript shortcuts for assigning values to variables in the following table ave slight performance advantages over their equivalents.
|
Assignment |
Example |
Equivalent to |
|---|---|---|
|
++ |
i ++ |
i = i + 1 |
|
-- |
i -- |
i = i - 1 |
|
+= |
i += 3 |
i = i + 3 |
|
-= |
i -= 3 |
i = i -3 |
|
*= |
i *= 3 |
i = i * 3 |
|
/= |
i /= 3 |
i = i / 3 |
|
^= |
i ^=3 |
i = i ^ 3 |
Unless you have prohibited the use of dashes in variable names, you must leave a space before -- and -=. If you do not, PowerScript reads the minus sign as part of a variable name. For more information, see Identifier names.
Examples
Example 1
These statements each assign a value to the variable ld_date:
date ld_date
ld_date = Today( )
ld_date = 2006-01-01
ld_date = Date("January 1, 2006")Example 2
These statements assign the parent of the current control to a window variable:
window lw_current_window lw_current_window = Parent
Example 3
This statement makes a CheckBox invisible:
cbk_on.Visible = FALSE
Example 4
This statement is not an assignment -- it tests the value of the string in the SingleLineEdit sle_emp:
IF sle_emp.Text = "N" THEN Open(win_1)
Example 5
These statements concatenate two strings and assign the value to the string Text1:
string Text1 Text1 = sle_emp.Text+".DAT"
Example 6
These assignments use operator shortcuts:
int i = 4i ++ // i is now 5. i -- // i is 4 again. i += 10 // i is now 14. i /= 2 // i is now 7.
These shortcuts can be used only in pure assignment statements. They cannot be used with other operators in a statement. For example, the following is invalid:
int i, j i = 12 j = i ++ // INVALID
The following is valid, because ++ is used by itself in the assignment:
int i, j i = 12 i ++ j = i
