Operators allow you to specify the relationships between the various components of expressions. Some operators are only enabled if you are creating a conditional expression.
Indicate the beginning and end of an expression that should be evaluated as a unit, separate from the rest of the expression. In general, you should use parentheses to enclose parts of the whole expression when you’re using two or more operators and you wish to control the order of evaluation.
Parentheses are automatically added to an expression when you insert a function. The item following it, usually a field, is automatically placed within the parentheses.
Adds the value to the left of the addition operator to the value to the right of the operator.
Subtracts the value to the right of the operator from the value to the left of the operator.
Multiplies the value to the left of the operator by the value to the right of the operator.
Divides the value to the left of the operator by the value to the right of the operator.
Joins the data in two fields with a string storage type into one string of characters. CAT stands for “concatenate,” and is symbolized by the pound (#) sign when displayed in an expression. You may want to use the CAT operator in conjunction with the STRIP function so that only the data in each field is displayed, and not empty blanks following the data.
The following operators are enabled only when you’re creating conditional expressions.
Indicates that if the two values to either side of the operator are equal, the expression is true.
Indicates that if the values to either side of the operator aren’t equal, the expression is true.
Joins a series of expressions within a conditional expression. All of the expressions joined by an AND operator must be true for the entire expression to be true.
Indicates that if the value to the left of the operator is greater than or equal to the value to the right of the operator, the expression is true.
Indicates that if the value to the left of the operator is greater than the value to the right of the operator, the expression is true.
Joins a series of expressions within a whole condition or restriction. Only one of these expressions must be true for the entire expression to be true.
Indicates that if the value to the left of the operator is less than or equal to the value to the right of the operator, the expression is true.
Indicates that if the value to the left of the operator is less than the value to the right of the operator, the expression is true.
Reverses the meaning of the expression following it. For example, the following expressions are written differently but have the same result:
NOT(Account Balance < 5000) Account Balance >= 5000