Using <if>

The <if> tag examines its defined attributes through equivalence comparisons to variables whose names match the attribute names. If the specified attribute's value matches the variable's value exactly, the region of mark-up between that <if> and its associated </if> closing tag will be processed by LXP. Otherwise, that region (between <if> and </if>) will be completely ignored (including any LXP mark-up) up to its closing tag.

You may include in the <if> tag either an attribute name, a complete attribute pair, or a series of attribute pairs, depending on the intended logical assessment you wish to make.

Providing only an attribute name (e.g., <if test>) causes LXP to check only for the existence of any characters assigned to the variable value with that name. In this case, if the variable is set to an empty value (or not set at all), the <if> match fails, and its defined region is muted (not displayed). Otherwise, if a value is found, the region is processed as it would be normally.

Providing one or more attribute pairs results in each attribute value being compared to the variable with the specified attribute name. When more than one attribute is specified in the tag, each condition must match exactly for the <if> conditions to be considered a match as a whole, and for the region to be processed.

Example 13-13 uses the <if> tag to check for the existence of any variable value named name, and compares the variable named access to the value of 1.

<lxp>
  <if name access="1">
    <strong>Success!</strong><br />
    A <em>name</em> is set, and <em>access</em> is set to 1.<br />
  </if>
</lxp>

Using <ifnot>

The <ifnot> tag logically performs the opposite of the <if> tag in every respect. For example, when multiple attributes are passed, each equivalence comparison must fail for the <ifnot> region to be processed.

Example 13-14 uses the <ifnot> tag to test for the lack of a variable called error, as well as to check that a variable named access is not set to the value of 0.

<lxp>
  <ifnot error access="0">
    <strong>Success!</strong><br />
    An <em>error</em> is not set, and <em>access</em> is not set to 0.<br />
  </ifnot>
</lxp>

Nesting logic

The term nesting refers to placing tags within regions marked-up by other tags. You may safely nest logical tags as much as you like, provided you carefully keep track of where they open and close.

In some cases, you may have to nest logic tags in order to perform multiple checks on a single variable. This is because you can only place a variable's name inside of a logic tag once.

Example 13-15 nests several logic tags within one top-level <if> tag.

<lxp>
  <if answer>
    <strong>You have supplied an answer!</strong><br />
    
    <if answer="12">
      Your answer is correct!<br />
    </if>
    
    <ifnot answer="12">
      Your answer of <putvar name="answer">, though, is incorrect.<br />
    </ifnot>
    
    <if answer="12" cheatcode>
      You appear to be cheating, however.
    </if>
  </if>
</lxp>

In Example 13-15, the first <if> tag checks to see if an argument titled answer is set at all. If it is not, the entire region it encapsulates is muted.

The second <if> tag evaluates the passed answer argument to see if it is equal to 12. If it is, that <if> tag's region is processed. Otherwise, that region will be muted.

The <ifnot> tag then checks to see if the passed argument named answer is not equal to 12. If it is not, the region that the <ifnot> encapsulates will be processed.

Lastly, the final <if> tag in Example 13-15 checks to see if the passed value for answer is equal to 12, and for the existence of a passed argument called cheatcode. If the variable answer is found to equal 12, and the variable cheatcode is found at all, the region encapsulated by the last <if> tag will be processed (meaning, in this case, that it is merely displayed).