Formula terms

Terms and operators.
Formulas in NumericBase follow a specific syntax, which includes "terms" that are combined together using "operators" to form the formula.

The different terms are "constant", "name", and "function call". These are outlined below.

Constant.
Can be one of the following:

1. Null constant. Represented by the question mark character (?). This constant is most useful in range formulas.
2. String constant. Any combination of characters that is surrounded by quotes. For example:
   • "red"
   • "3434"
   • "any combination including special characters such as $,%,^,&, etc.."
3. Numeric constant. Any combination of digits with at most one decimal points, and at most one exponent. For example:
   • 45 - have no decimal point and no exponent.
   • 4.534 - have one decimal point,
   • 4e10 - have one exponent.
4. Boolean constant. Can be either true or false.
   

If present in a formula, NumericBase evaluates constants in a straight forward manner to their respective type.

Name
This formula term is used together with the access operators to refer to the different solution elements

About "simple name"
If the name is not a "simple name", then to use it in a formula, you need to enclose it with brackets. A simple name is any combination of digits, letters, the underscore sign (_), and the tilde sign (~). The first character can not be a digit. See the following table for some examples.

Name Simple name? Usage in formula amount yes amount first name no (has a space sign in the middle) [first name] amount~_123 yes amount~_123 12name no (begins with a digit) [12name]

Table: simple and not simple names.

Function call.
This term let you use functions in your formulas. More about this subject in the functions page.