Logical Expression

[Former Member]

hi,

what is the difference between following two conditions

DATA : a(10) value 'kumar'.

IF a IS NOT INITIAL.

IF NOT a IS INITIAL.

regards,

Kumar

[Former Member]

Hi,

IF a IS NOT INITIAL. - This is wrong statement. there is syntax error in this statement.

IF NOT a IS INITIAL - This is correct statement. There is no syntax error in this statement. this statement is checking whether the variable 'a' is empty or not.

rewards if useful.

thanks,

sksingh

[Former Member]

hi sksingh,

there is no syndax error for both ..

regards,

kumar.

[Former Member]

Hi,

Basically the two statements mean that checking the variable 'a' whether it contains any value or not.

thanks,

sksingh

[Former Member]

Hi,

In previous versions of R/3 , IF a IS NOT INITIAL was a syntax error.

But now both versions are correct.

The second version was introduced because the first one was not very readable.

Between the two,

IF NOT a IS INITIAL is said to be faster since the comparison is positive logic.

IF a IS NOT INITIAL is said to be negative comparison logic. And checking equality is always faster than checking inequality.

But for readability, IF a IS NOT INITIAL is preferred. The performance advantage is not too high.

Hope this helps.