LaTeX programming: how to implement conditionals

I have recently come across a problem while creating a LaTeX style (for making A0-size posters). Maybe it could be avoided or solved more elegantly, but I wanted to solve it with conditionals.

Basically, what I wanted to do was define a command (actually, an environment) that accepted one argument, and make it return different output, depending on the argument:

if (argument equals something) then
  do something
else
  do somethingelse
end if

It gave me some headaches to get it, but I also learned some interesting things on the way. There are at least two ways of playing with conditionals: defining boolean variables or directly using logical comparisons.

Defining logical valiables

We can define a logical variable logvar as follows:

\newif\iflogvar

By default, it is set to false. We can set it to true by:

\logvartrue

and back to false by:

\logvarfalse

The variable can be used in a conditional as follows:

\iflogvar
  aaaa
\else
  bbbb
\fi

You can think of the above code as a single object, the output value of which will be “aaaa” if logvar is true, and “bbbb” if false. Basically, the following code will, thus, output “Today is great“:

Today

\newif\ifismonday

\ismondayfalse

\ifismonday
  sucks!
\else
  is \textbf{great}
\fi

Direct logic comparison

The example I provide works for numbers, but check this page for more info. Recall that LaTeX works with integers (counters) and text strings. As far as I know, floating point operations are impossible in LaTeX (nothing is actually impossible in LaTeX, just veeery difficult).

For example, defining the following command in the preamble:

\newcommand{\isitthree}[1]
{
  \ifnum#1=3
    number #1 is 3
  \else
    number #1 is not 3
  \fi
}

allows us to call it in the document, so the following outputs “We know that number 33 is not 3”:

We know that \isitthree{33}

Nesting

Obviously the conditionals can be nested (put one inside another), when more than one condition needs to be tested. For example:

Today

\newif\ifismonday
\newif\ifistuesday

\ismondayfalse
\istuesdaytrue

\ifismonday
  sucks!
\else
  \ifistuesday
    almost sucks.
  \else
    is \textbf{great}
  \fi
\fi

7 Comments »

  1. LaTeX programming: how to implement conditionals « handyfloss said,

    September 13, 2008 @ 15:58 pm

    […] Entry available at: http://handyfloss.net/2007.08/latex-programming-how-to-implement-conditionals/ […]

  2. christopherolah said,

    February 19, 2009 @ 23:48 pm

    Just left this reply at your old blog… now I’m leaving it here

    As you said, floating points are difficult to handle in LaTeX. Thankfully, there are packages that make it easy: fltpoint – The package provides simple floating point operations can be found a long with other packages useful for LaTeX programing in the CTAN calculating section.

  3. AprilCoolsDay said,

    April 16, 2009 @ 18:25 pm

    For people who prefer latex-like coding instead of tex-like coding, ifthen package is there.

    \documentclass{article}
    \usepackage{ifthen}
    \newboolean{sunday}
    \setboolean{sunday}{true}
    \begin{document}
    \ifthenelse {\boolean{sunday}}
    {This is sunday} {this is no sunday}
    \end{document}

  4. isilanes said,

    April 17, 2009 @ 8:45 am

    Thanks AprilCoolsDay!

    It is comments like yours that add real value to a blog.

  5. Joost said,

    November 30, 2010 @ 23:20 pm

    Really helpful, thank you. However I was having issues with the scopes of the variables. In a command, setting a conditions-variable will only take effect in that scope, not outside. It was quite hard to find the solution to this, however it is really easy:

    ———————————————————————————————————

    \newif\ifismonday\ismondaytrue
    \newcommand{\whatever}{
    \global\ismondayfalse % Set \ifismonday to false, in the global scope
    }
    \whatever
    % \ifismonday has properly been set tot false, even outside the command

  6. perde toovien said,

    November 28, 2018 @ 17:47 pm

    i just came here to say thank you, this is the simplest solution to latex if-else statement i’ve found on the internet.

  7. Sébastien said,

    June 28, 2019 @ 15:50 pm

    Thanks.
    But, how to implement conditionals in tikz ?

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