<doc>
  <legacy_id>2331</legacy_id>
  <name>&lt;</name>
  <type>operator</type>
  <syntax>
    <example><i>value1</i> &lt; <i>value2</i></example>
  </syntax>
  <library></library>
  <objects>
  </objects>
  <synonyms>
  </synonyms>
  <classification>
    <category>Text and Data Processing</category>
    <category>Math, Logic, &amp; Dates</category>
  </classification>
  <references>
    <operator tag="&gt;">&gt; Operator</operator>
    <operator tag="&lt;=">&lt;= Operator</operator>
    <operator tag="&lt;&gt;">&lt;&gt; Operator</operator>
    <function tag="min">min Function</function>
  </references>
  <history>
    <introduced version="1.0">Added.</introduced>
  </history>
  <platforms>
    <mac/>
    <windows/>
    <linux/>
    <ios/>
    <android/>
  </platforms>
  <classes>
    <desktop/>
    <server/>
    <web/>
    <mobile/>
  </classes>
  <security>
  </security>
  <summary>Compares two <glossary tag="value">values</glossary> and <glossary tag="return">returns</glossary> true if the first <function tag="value">value</function> is less than the second <function tag="value">value</function>, false otherwise.</summary>
  <examples>
    <example>3 &lt; 4 <code><i>-- evaluates to true</i></code></example>
    <example>7 &lt; (2 + 1) <code><i>-- evaluates to false</i></code></example>
    <example>if thisVariable &lt; 0 then beep</example>
  </examples>
  <description>
    <p>Use the <b>&lt;</b> (less than) <glossary tag="operator">operator</glossary> to compare two numbers or to compare the alphabetical order of two <glossary tag="string">strings</glossary>.</p><p/><p><b>Parameters:</b></p><p>The operands <i>value1</i> and <i>value2</i> can be numbers, <glossary tag="literal string">literal strings</glossary> of <keyword tag="characters">characters</keyword> (<glossary tag="delimit">delimited</glossary> with <glossary tag="double quote">double quotes</glossary>), or any sources of value.</p><p/><p><b>Comments:</b></p><p>When comparing strings, the <b/><code/> <glossary tag="operator">operator</glossary> compares the two <glossary tag="value">values</glossary> <keyword tag="character">character</keyword> by <keyword tag="character">character</keyword>, using the <glossary tag="ASCII">ASCII value</glossary> of each <keyword tag="character">character</keyword>. For example, "a" comes before "b" in the <glossary tag="ASCII">ASCII</glossary> <glossary tag="character set">character set</glossary>, so<code> "a" &lt; "b"</code> and<code> "ab" &lt; "bb"</code>.</p><p/><p>If the strings are of different lengths, so that the trailing characters in one <keyword tag="string">string</keyword> are compared to missing <keyword tag="characters">characters</keyword> in the other, the missing <keyword tag="characters">characters</keyword> are considered to have lower <function tag="value">value</function> than any <keyword tag="character">character</keyword>. For example,<code> "ab" &lt; "abc"</code>.</p><p/><p>If the two values are equal, <code>firstValue  secondValue</code> evaluates to false.</p><p/><p>If the <b>caseSensitive</b> <glossary tag="property">property</glossary> is true, the comparison between two <glossary tag="string">strings</glossary> treats uppercase letters as coming before lowercase letters, so<code> "A" &lt; "a"</code>. If the <b>caseSensitive</b> <glossary tag="property">property</glossary> is false, the comparison is not <href tag="../glossary/casedashsensitive.xml">case-sensitive</href>, so "a" is considered equivalent to "A".</p>
  </description>
</doc>