User Guide

Table Of Contents

Using number signs 83

If number signs are omitted inside the string, the text, rather than the value, appears in the string.

For example, the following pairs of

cfset statements produce the same result:

As with the cfoutput statement, two expressions can be adjacent to each other in strings, as in

the following example:

The double-quotation marks around "Moon" and "Monkey" do not need to be escaped (as in

""Moon"" and ""Monkey""). This is because the text between the number signs is treated as an

expression; it is evaluated before its value is inserted inside the string.

Nested number signs

In a few cases, you can nest number signs in an expression. The following example uses nested

number signs:

<cfset Sentence = "The length of the full name is

#Len("#FirstName# #LastName#")#">

In this example, number signs are nested so that the values of the variables FirstName and

LastName are inserted in the string whose length the

Len function calculates.

Nested number signs imply a complex expression that can typically be written more clearly and

efficiently without the nesting. For example, you can rewrite the preceding code example without

the nested number signs, as follows:

<cfset Sentence2 = "The length of the full name is #Len(FirstName & " "

& LastName)#">

The following achieves the same results and can further improve readability:

<cfset Sentence = "The length of the full name

is #Len(FullName)#">

A common mistake is to put number signs around the arguments of functions, as in:

These statements result in errors. As a general rule, never put number signs around function

arguments.

Using number signs in expressions

Use number signs in expressions only when necessary, because unneeded number signs reduce

clarity and can increase processing time. The following example shows the preferred method for

referencing variables: