Comparison Operators

Microsoft® Visual Basic® Scripting Edition
Comparison Operators

Description

Used to compare expressions.

Syntax

result = expression1 comparisonoperator expression2
result = object1 Is object2
Comparison operators have these parts:

Part Description

result Any numeric variable.

expression Any expression.

comparisonoperator Any comparison operator.

object Any object name.

Remarks

The Is operator has specific comparison functionality that differs from the operators in the following table. The following table contains a list of the comparison operators and the conditions that determine whether result is True, False, or Null:

Operator Description True if False if Null if

< Less than expression1 < expression2 expression1 >= expression2 expression1 or expression2 = Null

<= Less than or equal to expression1 <= expression2 expression1 > expression2 expression1 or expression2 = Null

> Greater than expression1 > expression2 expression1 <= expression2 expression1 or expression2 = Null

>= Greater than or equal to expression1 >= expression2 expression1 < expression2 expression1 or expression2 = Null

= Equal to expression1 = expression2 expression1 <> expression2 expression1 or expression2 = Null

<> Not equal to expression1 <> expression2 expression1 = expression2 expression1 or expression2 = Null
When comparing two expressions, you may not be able to easily determine whether the expressions are being compared as numbers or as strings.
The following table shows how expressions are compared or what results from the comparison, depending on the underlying subtype:

If Then

Both expressions are numeric Perform a numeric comparison.

Both expressions are strings Perform a string comparison.

One expression is numeric and the other is a string The numeric expression is less than the string expression.

One expression is Empty and the other is numeric Perform a numeric comparison, using 0 as the Empty expression.

One expression is Empty and the other is a string Perform a string comparison, using a zero-length string ("") as the Empty expression.

Both expressions are Empty The expressions are equal.

Part	Description
result	Any numeric variable.
expression	Any expression.
comparisonoperator	Any comparison operator.
object	Any object name.

Operator	Description	True if	False if	Null if
<	Less than	expression1 < expression2	expression1 >= expression2	expression1 or expression2 = Null
<=	Less than or equal to	expression1 <= expression2	expression1 > expression2	expression1 or expression2 = Null
>	Greater than	expression1 > expression2	expression1 <= expression2	expression1 or expression2 = Null
>=	Greater than or equal to	expression1 >= expression2	expression1 < expression2	expression1 or expression2 = Null
=	Equal to	expression1 = expression2	expression1 <> expression2	expression1 or expression2 = Null
<>	Not equal to	expression1 <> expression2	expression1 = expression2	expression1 or expression2 = Null

If	Then
Both expressions are numeric	Perform a numeric comparison.
Both expressions are strings	Perform a string comparison.
One expression is numeric and the other is a string	The numeric expression is less than the string expression.
One expression is Empty and the other is numeric	Perform a numeric comparison, using 0 as the Empty expression.
One expression is Empty and the other is a string	Perform a string comparison, using a zero-length string ("") as the Empty expression.
Both expressions are Empty	The expressions are equal.