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Re: [ECS] IF, THEN, ELSE....OR MAYBE NOT? bgprager.mindspring.com Wed, 15 Nov 2000 08:26:59 -0500

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Take heart,  they do work.
If you're imbedding If's within If's,  use beginIF
BeginIF A is true
DO ----common code----
If B is true
then
then
then
    elseif C is true
    then
    then
ENDIF

Alternatively, 
If A is true

BEGINIF  B is true
Do
Do
Do
If  D is true
then
then
ENDIF

BEGINIFs are very useful and provide the means to easily nest mutilple IF statements
and can preclude of use of the Exit statement (if you're an oldtime programmer like
me, Exit's were death.). It is also useful when combining ANDs and ORs in a logical
statement.  I will admit the ECS is harder than other HA software I've used when constructing
complex logical conditions however I used the BeginIF statement to break up a complex
logical.  Ex.  If (A or B) and C becomes : 
Beginif A is true or B is true
If C is true then
then
....
endif
My Thermostat code is heavily nested as are some of my other routines and they work
quite reliably. If you'd like to see some examples, let me know.
Good Luck.
ecs-list@netbloc.com wrote:
> 






All:
 
When you can't even make the IF-AND-ELSE statements work in a 
language, I think you should generally be regarded as a failure.  Such is 
my fate with ECS.  Oh, I've tried to make them work.  And, some 
have.  I've had especially good luck with the simple IF-THEN 
construct.  I have even had some luck with your basic IF-THEN-ELSEIF 
construct.  But, as soon as I try to do something complex, the event goes 
right into the toilet.
 
I've tried looking at the event code that comes with 
ECS.  And, suspiciously, I can't find any examples of IF-THEN-ELSE 
constructs that are more complex than the ones that I described above.  The 
proud programmer in me suspects that perhaps even Mark can't get the complex 
ones to run right.  But, the humble programmer in me says that I 
probably am just not getting the language syntax and that it's all my 
fault.
 
So, on to my questions:
 
1.  What is the proper way to code a block of 
statements to be executed in the ELSE case?  Is 
it:
 
if condition
then statement 1
then statement 2
else statement 3
else statement 4
else statement 5
 
or perhaps is it:
 
if condition
then statement 1
then statement 2
else statement 3
do statement 4
do statement 5
 
2.  When expressing conditions using AND / OR, can you 
create a complex statement that would normally be created using paretheses in 
more robust languages?  Are there rules that determine the order of 
precedence?  If not, how do people create complex conditionals in 
ECS?
 
3.  Can you use an ELSEIF within a BEGINIF-ENDIF 
block?
 
4.  I have the same question about coding blocks of 
statements for the ELSE case as it applies to BEGINIF-ENDIF.  Do all 
statments within the ELSE case begin with ELSE?
 
5.  Are there limits to how deeply IF-THEN-ELSE 
statements can be nested?
 
6.  WHY DOESN'T MY CODE EVER DO WHAT I EXPECT IT TO 
UNLESS I MAKE IT SO REPETITIVE AND TEDIOUS THAN I FALL ASLEEP CODING 
IT?
 
Well...Now that I have all that off my chest, I would like to 
ask for your help.  If you have had these kinds of problems and found your 
way through, I would appreciate your advice.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Kevin
 
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