EXACT Function

Returns true if the second string evaluates to be an exact match of the first string. Source values can be string literals, column references, or expressions that evaluate to strings.

Basic Usage

String literal reference example:

derive type:single value:EXACT('a','a') as:'stringExactCompare'

Output: Generates true in the new column stringExactCompare, since the values are identical.

String literal reference example:

derive type:single value:EXACT('a','A') as:'stringExactCompare'

Output: Generates false in the new column stringExactCompare, since the capitalization is different between the two strings.

Column reference example:

derive type:single value:EXACT(string1,string2) as:'stringExactCompare'

Output: Generates a new stringExactCompare column containing the evaluation of string1 column values being exact matches with the corresponding string2 column values.

Syntax

derive type:single value:EXACT(string_ref1,string_ref2)

Argument	Required?	Data Type	Description
string_ref1	Y	string	Name of first column or first string literal to apply to the function
string_ref2	Y	string	Name of second column or second string literal to apply to the function

For more information on syntax standards, see Language Documentation Syntax Notes.

string_ref1, string_ref2

String literal, column reference, or expression whose elements you want to compare based on this function.

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
Yes	String literal, column reference, or expression evaluating to a string	myString1, myString2

Examples

Example - Simple string comparisons

The following example demonstrates functions that can be used to compare two sets of strings. These functions include the following:

• STRINGGREATERTHAN - Evaluates to true if the first string is greater than the second string. See STRINGGREATERTHAN Function.
• STRINGGREATERTHANEQUAL - Evaluates to true if the first string is greater than or equal to the second string. See STRINGGREATERTHANEQUAL Function.
• STRINGLESSTHAN - Evaluates to true if the first string is less than the second string. See STRINGLESSTHAN Function.
• STRINGLESSTHANEQUAL - Evaluates to true if the first string is less than or equal to the second string. See STRINGLESSTHANEQUAL Function.
• EXACT - Evaluates to true if the first string is an exact match with the second string. See EXACT Function.

Source:

The following table contains some example strings to be compared.

rowId	stringA	stringB
1	a	a
2	a	A
3	a	b
4	a	1
5	a	;
6	;	1
7	a	a
8	a	aa
9	abc	x

Note that in row #6, stringB begins with a space character.

Transform:

For each set of strings, the following functions are applied to generate a new column containing the results of the comparison.

derive type:single value: STRINGGREATERTHAN(stringA,stringB) as: 'greaterThan'

derive type:single value: STRINGGREATERTHANEQUAL(stringA,stringB) as: 'greaterThanEqual'

derive type:single value: STRINGLESSTHAN(stringA,stringB) as: 'lessThan'

derive type:single value: STRINGLESSTHANEQUAL(stringA,stringB) as: 'lessThanEqual'

derive type:single value: EXACT(stringA,stringB) as: 'exactEqual'

Results:

In the following table, the Notes column has been added manually.

rowId	stringA	stringB	lessThanEqual	lessThan	greaterThanEqual	greaterThan	exactEqual	Notes
1	a	a	true	false	true	false	true	Evaluation of differences between STRINGLESSTHAN and STRINGGREATERTHAN and greater than versions.
2	a	A	true	true	false	false	false	Comparisons are case-sensitive. Uppercase letters are greater than lowercase letters.
3	a	b	true	true	false	false	false	Letters later in the alphabet (b) are greater than earlier letters (a).
4	a	1	false	false	true	true	false	Letters (a) are greater than digits (1).
5	a	;	false	false	true	true	false	Letters (a) are greater than non-alphanumerics (;).
6	;	1	true	true	false	false	false	Digits (1) are greater than non-alphanumerics (;). Therefore, the following characters are listed in order of evaluation: Aa1;
7	a	a	false	false	true	true	false	Letters (and any non-breaking character) are greater than space values.
8	a	aa	true	true	false	false	false	The second string is greater, since it contains one additional string at the end.
9	abc	x	true	true	false	false	false	The second string is greater, since its first letter is greater than the first letter of the first string.