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Working with CFML expressions 25

Specifying quotation marks around values

When assigning literal values to variables, you must surround the literal value with double

quotation marks or single quotation marks. ColdFusion interprets the content between the

quotation marks as a literal value and assigns that value to the variable; for example:

ColdFusion instantiates the variable my_first_name to the string literal Kaleigh. Further, Smith

is assigned to the variable

my_last_name and 5 is assigned to age.

When referencing a variable by its name, you do not surround the name with quotation marks;

for example:

<cfset the_string = "My name is " & variables.my_first_name &

" and my age is " & variables.my_age>

My name is

is literal text and, you therefore, surround it with quotation marks. The variable

references

variables.my_first_name and variables.my_age are not surrounded by

quotation marks. ColdFusion uses the values of the referenced variables (

Kaleigh and 5,

respectively) when assigning the value to the variable

the_string.

To display quotation marks on a page as literal characters, you must double the quotation marks;

for example:

<cfset mystring = "We all shouted ""Happy Birthday"" when he entered the

room.">

#mystring#

</cfoutput>

The result is the following output:

We all shouted "Happy Birthday" when he entered the room.

Specifying operators in expressions

In ColdFusion, you use operators to test conditions; for example, you use the

IS operator to test

for equality. When using operators in expressions, you must only use supported logical operators

that ColdFusion can interpret properly. For example, if you use the greater than operator (>)or

the less than operator (<), ColdFusion interprets these operators as the start or end of a tag.

The following table lists the nonsupported logical operators and their equivalent ColdFusion

operators:

Nonsupported

logical operator

Equivalent ColdFusion

decision operator Description

= IS, EQUAL, EQ Tests for equality.

< LT, LESS THAN Tests for less than.

<= LTE, LE,

LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO

Tests for less than or equal to.

>GT

GREATER THAN

Tests for greater than.