9.2 The If Statement

You use the If statement structure in your scripts to evaluate a condition. The process your script performs after the evaluation of the condition is based on the outcome of that evaluation. The basic form of the If statement structure includes the key words If, Then and EndIf. You must include each of these key words in all If statements you use within your scripts. If you fail to include any of these key words, then the script compiler generates a syntax error. The basic structure of an If statement follows:

If condition to be evaluated Then
statement or statements to be performed when the If statement is true
EndIf

You always place the condition to be evaluated by JAWS between the If and Then key words. JAWS evaluates this condition to determine what statements should be performed next. When the condition is found to be true, then JAWS performs all statements following the If statement. If the condition is determined to be false, then JAWS skips the statements contained in the If statement and begins performing any statements following the EndIf key word. In the basic form of the If-Then-EndIf statement structure, JAWS only has one branch to choose from.

When you construct If statements in your scripts, it is a good idea to indent any statements JAWS performs when the preceding If statement is true. Using indentation makes it easier to determine which statements are contained within the If statement and which are not. You can press TAB in the Script Manager to accomplish this task. This indents the statements inside the If-Then-EndIf structure by approximately 4 spaces.

The following If statement compares the values of two variables. The code of the example follows:

Example 1: Using an If-Then-EndIF Statement

var
int iVerbosity
let iVerbosity = GetVerbosity ()
If iVerbosity == BEGINNER Then
SayFormattedMessage (OT_STATUS, "beginner verbosity is in use")
EndIf

In the above example, JAWS begins by retrieving the current verbosity setting storing it in the variable, iVerbosity. JAWS then performs the If statement comparing the value stored in iVerbosity to the verbosity setting value represented by the constant, BEGINNER. JAWS performs the SayFormattedMessage function following the If statement and speaks "Beginner verbosity is in use" when the values are equal. However, when the values are not equal, then JAWS does not perform the SayFormattedMessage function and no message is heard.

 

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