7.4 Comparison Operators

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Every program requires the ability to make assertions about the equality or inequality or the size relationship of arithmetic variables, and this holds as well for our dealings with CLINT objects. Here, too, the principle is obeyed that the programmer does not need knowledge of the internal structure of the CLINT type, and the determination of how two CLINT objects are related to each other is left to functions designed for such purposes.

The primary function that accomplishes these tasks is the function cmp_l(). It determines which of the relations a_l < b_l, a_l == b_l, or a_l > b_l holds for two CLINT values a_l and b_l. To this end, first the numbers of digits of the CLINT objects, which have been liberated from any leading zeros, are compared. If the number of digits of the operands is the same, then the process begins with a comparison of the most-significant digits; as soon as a difference is detected, the comparison is terminated.

Function:	comparison of two CLINT objects
Syntax:	int cmp_l (CLINT a_l, CLINT b_l);
Input:	a_l, b_l (arguments)
Return:	−1 if (value of a_l) < (value of b_l) 0 if (value of a_l) = (value of b_l) 1 if (value of a_l) > (value of b_l)

 int cmp_l (CLINT a_l, CLINT b_l) {   clint *msdptra_l, *msdptrb_l;   int la = DIGITS_L (a_l);   int lb = DIGITS_L (b_l);

The first test checks whether both arguments have length, and hence value, 0. Then any leading zeros are eliminated, and a decision is attempted on the basis of the number of digits.

   if (la == 0 && lb == 0)     {       return 0;     }   while (a_l[la] == 0 && la > 0)     {       --la;     }   while (b_l[lb] == 0 && lb > 0)     {      --lb;     }   if (la == 0 && lb == 0)     {       return 0;     }   if (la > lb)     {       return 1;     }   if (la < lb)     {       return -1;     }

If the operands have the same number of digits, then the actual values must be compared. For this we begin with a comparison of the most-significant digits and proceed digit by digit until two digits are found that are unequal or until the least-significant digits are reached.

   msdptra_l = a_l + la;   msdptrb_l = b_l + lb;   while ((*msdptra_l == *msdptrb_l) && (msdptra_l > a_l))     {       msdptra_l--;       msdptrb_l--;     }

Now we compare the two digits and make our determination, and the corresponding function value is returned.

  if (msdptra_l == a_l)    {      return 0;    }  if (*msdptra_l > *msdptrb_l)    {      return 1;    }  else    {      return -1;    } }

If we are interested in the equality of two CLINT values, then the application of the function cmp_l() is a bit more than is necessary. In this case there is a simpler variant, which avoids the size comparison.

Function:	comparison of two CLINT objects
Syntax:	int equ_l (CLINT a_l, CLINT b_l);
Input:	a_l, b_l (arguments)
Return:	0 if (value of a_l) ≠ (value of b_l) 1 if (value of a_l) = (value of b_l)

 int equ_l (CLINT a_l, CLINT b_l) {   clint *msdptra_l, *msdptrb_l;   int la = DIGITS_L (a_l);   int lb = DIGITS_L (b_l);   if (la == 0 && lb == 0)     {       return 1;     }   while (a_l[la] == 0 && la > 0)     {       --la;     }   while (b_l[lb] == 0 && lb > 0)     {       --lb;     }   if (la == 0 && lb == 0)     {       return 1;     }   if (la != lb)     {       return 0;     }   msdptra_l = a_l + la;   msdptrb_l = b_l + lb;   while ((*msdptra_l == *msdptrb_l) && (msdptra_l > a_l))     {       msdptra_l--;       msdptrb_l--;     }   return (msdptra_l > a_l ? 0 : 1); }

These two functions in their raw form can easily lead the user into the thickets of error. In particular, the meaning of the function values of cmp_l() must be kept constantly in mind or looked up repeatedly. As a measure against errors a number of macros have been created by means of which comparisons can be formulated in a more mnemonically satisfactory way (see in this regard Appendix C, "Macros with Parameters"). For example, we have the following macros, where we equate the objects a_l and b_l with the values they represent:

 GE_L (a_l, b_l)   returns 1 if a_l ≥ b_l, and 0 otherwise; EQZ_L (a_l)       returns 1 if a_l == 0, and 0 if a_l > 0.

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