Hi We had the same "problem" in Foxpro because of the Dbase legacy.
Here is a partial list of comparisosn with the SET EXACT <ON/OFF> switch setting OFF ON OFF or ON "abc" = "abc" Yes Yes Yes -- 1 "ab" = "abc" No No No -- 2 "abc" = "ab" Yes No No -- 3 "abc" = "ab_" No No No -- 4 "ab" = "ab_" No Yes No -- 5 "ab_" = "ab" Yes Yes No -- 6 "" = "ab" No No No -- 7 "ab" = "" Yes No No -- 8 ....... You get the picture the reason that 7 and 8 look weird is because (I believe) that the comparison scans the length of the operand which in this case is zero length, so the strings match up upto the zeroth character So why this list? Because without breaking any code we can have a setting - no different to itemdelimiter or numeric format etc like SET EXACT on or off and the engine could do the "right thing". But the right thing to me is not the right thing to you, it's an edge case and the programmer should know his data.. So here is the simplest way out of any pickle, and changes to the docs to explain this to knew programmers .... function EQ p1, p2 return (space & p1 = space & p2) end EQ On Mouseup local s1, s2 put "6." into s1 put "6. " into s2 answer "S1 = s2 is " & (s1 = s2) answer "S1 = s2 is " & EQ(s1 = s2) end Mouseup <RANT> And why doesn't my Python Program work - oh "You have an extra space"!! If there ever was the most stupid design decision of ANY language that must have been indentation as part of the syntax - and the second - Case sensitivity - because I want to Use "NAME" and "name" to help me differentiate Adults from children Oh and while in Rant mode don'y get me stated on PHP ... Case sensitive variables, constants, array keys, class properties, class constants Case insensitive functions, class constructors, class methods, keywords and constructs (if, else, null, foreach, echo etc.) </RANT> So count your blessings ... Regards Lagi On Fri, 7 Sep 2018 at 03:42, Richard Gaskin via use-livecode < use-livecode@lists.runrev.com> wrote: > Mike Kerner wrote: > > I like the is vs = idea. > > Me too, but I'm afraid decades of code across the entire xTalk world > form a substantial enough legacy to render the change prohibitive. > > Any suggestions for a new operator token to specify numeric equivalence? > > -- > Richard Gaskin > Fourth World Systems > Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web > ____________________________________________________________________ > ambassa...@fourthworld.com http://www.FourthWorld.com > > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your > subscription preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode > _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode