Terminating a loop or case

break

Terminate a loop or case

SYNTAX

break

The break command may only be used within a for, while or do loop, or in the case section of a switch statement.

In loops, the break command terminates the current iteration of the loop and passes control to the statement that follows the loop’s terminating right brace.

In a switch statement, a break command terminates the current case and passes control to the statement following the switch’s terminating right brace.

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NOTES

• If this command is encountered outside a for, while, do or switch statement, the compiler error “break must be inside a loop statement” is generated.

• The special label BREAK may be used within the trap clause of a Sculptor command to perform the same function.

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EXAMPLE

1. Using the break command in a switch construct. The break command is necessary at the end of each case to prevent control simply falling through to the next case:

   switch (tmp.Index) {
        case = "R":
             ProcessByRef()
             break
   
        case = "N":
             ProcessByName()
             break
   
        default:
             info "Invalid index"
             break
   }
   

2. Using the break command in a while construct. Here, the program loops until a zero value is encountered in the subscripted field tmp.Value:

   while(TRUE) {
        setcol +1
        if (tmp.Value = 0) then break
        tmp.Total = tmp.Total + tmp.Value
   }
   

3. This function returns the first element of an array field matching the argument:

   !function GetFieldNo(FieldName) {
   !temp Loop,,i2
   !temp FieldNo,,i2
   
        FieldNo = 0
        for (Loop = 1; Loop <= NumDDFields; Loop ++ ) {
             if (FieldName = FieldProps.Name[Loop]) {
                  FieldNo = Loop
                  break
             }
        }
        return FieldNo
   }
   

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RELATED TOPICS

breakif

BREAK