User manual

Using formulas and functions 11-3
Operators
You combine expressions using operators, symbols that determine
which operation to perform on the expressions. You place operators
between the expressions you want to perform the operation on.
Each operator has a precedence, which determines the order in which
calculations are performed in a formula containing more than one
operator. FileMaker Pro evaluates operators from left to right and
performs multiplication and division before addition and subtraction.
You can change the precedence by enclosing the expression you
want calculated first in parentheses.
This expression Returns
2+3*2 8
(2+3)*2 10
Mathematical operators
Use the following mathematical operators with numeric expressions.
Operator Definition Examples
+ Adds two values 2+2
(Addition) Subtotal+Sales Tax
– Subtracts the second 2–2
(Subtraction or
value from the first, or
InvoiceTotal–Discount
Negation)
changes the sign to + or –
–2
* Multiplies each value Subtotal*Sales Tax
(Multiplication) DaysLate*.01*
LeasePayment
/ Divides the first value by Kilometers Driven/Liters
(Division)
the second
Inches/12
^ Raises the first value to A^2+B^2 returns (A2 + B2)
(Power of, or
the power of the second
Radius^3 returns (Radius3)
Exponentiation)
value
Comparison operators
Comparison operators compare two expressions and return either
true or false. (True and False are Boolean results.) Arithmetically, a
result of true equals 1 and a result of false equals 0.
Operator Definition Examples
= True when both items are 38=39 returns false
(Equal to)
equal
38=38 returns true
<> True when the items are not 38<>39 returns true
or ≠ (Mac OS)
equal
38<>38 returns false
(Not equal to)
> True when the value on the 5>6 returns false
(Greater than)
left exceeds the value on
19>1 returns true
the right
< True when the value on the 5<6 returns true
(Less than)
left is less than the value on
19<1 returns false
the right
>= True when the value on the 5>=6 returns false
or ≥ (Mac OS)
left is greater than or equal
5>=5 returns true
to the value on the right
(Greater than or equal to)
<= True when the value on the 5<=6 returns true
or ≤ (Mac OS)
left is less than or equal to
19<=18 returns false
the value on the right
(Less than or equal to)