Responses to numeric questions are recorded in the long data type for integer numbers and record in the double data type for real numbers (ie 1.5, 2.73, 15.25, 2.0).

The following functions and operators can be used in conditions for numeric questions:
 

Comparison to a value

• Relational Operators: less than, greater than, equal to, etc

Comparison to a range or several values

• InRange: Checks if the number falls within a range
• InList: Checks if the number falls within a list of numbers

Math Functions

These are the functions in the C# Math Class that could be useful in your instrument:

• Arithmetic Operators: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
• ***Abs: ***Returns the absolute value of a number
• ***Ceiling: ***Returns the smallest integer that is greater than or equal to the decimal number
• ***Floor: ***Returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to the decimal number
• ***Max: ***Returns the larger of the two numbers
• ***Min: ***Returns the smaller of the two numbers
• ***Pow: ***Returns a specified number to a specified power
• ***Round: ***Round the decimal number to the closest integer
• ***Sign: ***Returns whether the number is positive or negative
• Sqrt: Returns the square root of the number
• ***Truncate: ***Returns the integer part of a decimal number
• Additional methods in the C# Math Class

InRange

Description

Checks if a value falls within a specified range.
 

Syntax

var.InRange(a,b)

This function will return ***true ***if a ≤ var ≤ b. Otherwise, it will return false. The values of a and b can either be numbers or variables. This function provides a more simple way to write the condition:

var ≥ a && var ≤ b

Example 1

Assume there is a question (days_worked) that asks the respondent how many days in the last 7 days did they work at their primary job. We want to check that the response is between 0 and 7 days as a validation condition.

For this check, we would write the validation condition for the question like this:

self.InRange(0,7)

It can also be written using the variable name:

days_worked.InRange(0,7)

Example 2

A common check for numeric questions is a range check to verify that the answer to the question is within certain bounds. To verify, for example, that year of birth is within 1900 to 2020 range we write a validation condition for this variable:

self.InRange(1900,2016)

InList

Description

Checks if a value matches any of the values in a specified list.

Syntax

var.InList(a,b,c,d,…)

This function will return true if var matches any of the arguments in the provided list. Otherwise, it will return false. The values in the list can either be numbers or variables. This function provides a more simple way to write the condition:

(var==a || var==b || var==c || var==d || ...)

Example 1

Assume you have a question (satisfied) that asks people to rank how satisfied they are with their life on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being very unsatisfied and 5 being very satisfied. For people that answered 1 or 5, you want to ask them additional questions so you will need to have enabling conditions for them. For the follow up questions, you would code the enabling conditions like this:

satisfied.InList(1,5)

Abs

Description

Returns the absolute value of a number. The absolute value of a real number can be thought of as the distance of the number from zero.
 

Syntax

Math.Abs(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.
 

Example:

Math.Abs(-6)     // returns 6
Math.Abs(6)      // returns 6
Math.Abs(7-3.5)  // returns 3.5
Math.Abs(3.5-7)  // returns 3.5

Ceiling

Description

Returns the smallest integral value that is greater than or equal to the value provided.
 

Syntax

Math.Ceiling(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.
 

Example

Math.Ceiling(3.21)  // returns 4
Math.Ceiling(3.98)  // returns 4
Math.Ceiling(6-3.5) // returns 3
Math.Ceiling(4-2)   // returns 2

Floor

Description

Returns the largest integral value that is less than or equal to the value provided
 

Syntax

Math.Floor(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.

Example

Math.Floor(3.21)  // returns 3
Math.Floor(3.98)  // returns 3
Math.Floor(6-3.5) // returns 2
Math.Floor(4-2)   // returns 2

Max

Description

Returns the larger of two values
 

Syntax

Math.Max(a,b)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.

Example

Math.Max(2,4)       // returns 4
Math.Max(10,3)      // returns 10
Math.Max(-10,0.5)   // returns 0
Math.Max(6,1)       // returns 6

Min

Description

Returns the smaller of two values
 

Syntax

Math.Min(a,b)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.
Example

Math.Min(2,4)       // returns 2
Math.Min(10,3)      // returns 3
Math.Min(-10,0.5)   // returns -10
Math.Min(6,1)       // returns 1

Pow

Description

Returns a specified number raised to the power of another specified number
 

Syntax

Math.Pow(a,b)

The number a is raised to the power of b. The value for a and b can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.

Example 1

Math.Pow(2,3)   // returns 8
Math.Pow(4,4)   // returns 256

Example 2

You have two questions in your survey that ask for: 1) weight of a person in kilogram (weight) and 2) height of a person in centimeters (height). Both variables height and weight are real numbers (allows for decimal values) and not integers. You want to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the person and make sure it is in a certain range to validate that the weight and height were entered correctly.

For this check, the code for the validation condition would look like this:

(weight/Math.Pow((height.Value,2)).InRange(10,40)

Round

Description

Rounds a specified value to the nearest integer value
 

Syntax

Math.Round(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.

Example

Math.Round(20.1)    // returns 20
Math.Round(20.6)    // returns 21
Math.Round(10-1.5)  // returns 9

Sign

Description

Returns whether the value is negative, positive, or zero. If the value if negative, then it will return the value -1. If the number is positive, then it will return the value 1. If the number is zero, then it will return the value 0.
 

Syntax

Math.Sign(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.
 

Example

Math.Sign(5)        // returns 1
Math.Sign(0)        // returns 0
Math.Sign(-2)       // returns -1
Math.Sign(-5 + 2)   // returns -1

Sqrt

Description

Returns the square root of a specified number. This will return an error if the specified number is negative.
 

Syntax

Math.Sqrt(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.
 

Example

Math.Sqrt(16)       // returns 4
Math.Sqrt(144)      // returns 12
Math.Sqrt(12 + 13)  // returns 5

Truncate

Description

Returns the integer part of a specified number. In other words, this returns the value of the number before the decimal point.
 

Syntax

Math.Truncate(z)

The value for z can be an expression, a variable or a number. If you are using a variable or an expression with multiple variables, you will have to add .Value to the end of each variable to avoid a compile error.

Example

Math.Truncate(53.72)    // returns 53
Math.Truncate(12.11)    // returns 12
Math.Truncate(-2.62)    // returns -2