An expression is a series of operands and operators that computes a value. You can use them in conditional constructs (IF-ELSEIF-ELSE-ENDIF) (see Section 4), in CONSTRAINT commands (see Section 2), and in SET commands (see Section 4). When used with variables, expressions add powerful capabilities to an autoaction database.

Continuing Expressions to the Next Line

If an expression cannot fit on one line, you must specify a backslash (\) at the end of the first line to continue the expression to the next line. If you do not specify the backslash, the lines are treated as two separate expressions and an error is likely to occur.

Components of Expressions

The following subsections describe the two components of expressions: operands and operators.