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MergeConditionals

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Module: FoundationLite

Returns the first not-Nil input object.

Name Type Description
Input value
 inConditionalObject1 <T>? First conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject2 <T>? Second conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject3 <T>? Third conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject4 <T>? Fourth conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject5 <T>? Fifth conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject6 <T>? Sixth conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject7 <T>? Seventh conditional input object
Input value
 inConditionalObject8 <T>? Eighth conditional input object
Output value
 outConditionalObject <T>? The first of the input objects that exists or nothing

Description

The MergeConditionals filter is a tool of the Conditional Execution mechanism. The operation collects a number of conditional objects and passes the first of the existing input values onto the outObject output. If all of the input values are Nil, the outObject is set to Nil.

The operation is similar to MergeBranches, yet it computes a conditional object, and thus does not require that at least one of the input values is not-Nil.

Hints

  • Also consider the coalescing operator (??) in Formula Blocks.
  • This filter creates a full copy of one of the input objects. Thus, if you need the highest possible speed, use this filter only with primitive types. An alternative is to use Variant Step macrofilters which are fast and elegant.

Examples

inConditionalObject1 = Nil
inConditionalObject2 = Nil
inConditionalObject3 = "Mike"
inConditionalObject4 = "Alice"
inConditionalObject5 = Nil
inConditionalObject6 = "Joanne"
inConditionalObject7 = Nil
inConditionalObject8 = Nil
 outConditionalObject = "Mike"
inConditionalObject1 = Nil
inConditionalObject2 = Nil
inConditionalObject3 = Nil
inConditionalObject4 = Nil
inConditionalObject5 = Nil
inConditionalObject6 = Nil
inConditionalObject7 = Nil
inConditionalObject8 = Nil
 outConditionalObject = Nil

Complexity Level

This filter is available on Advanced Complexity Level.

See Also

  • MergeBranches – Chooses the first non-Nil object, or reports an error if there is no such object.
  • MergeIntoArray – Creates an array from all the non-Nil input elements.