Declaring data

EGL native types are in three categories:

Simple value types:

BigInt, Date, Decimal(n), Decimal(n, p),

Float, Int, SmallFloat, SmallInt, Timestamp(pattern)

Simple reference types:

Decimal, Number, String (now a value type),

Timestamp (now a value type)

Other reference types:

Any, Dictionary, List

Note: 

• The as operator casts a value from one type to another. 
• The isa operator tests whether a value is of a given type. 

See also Working with custom types.

Values of simple value types

/** Character value types. **/
/** Note: String without parameter will be a reference type in EDT 1.0. **/
 
// Defaults to "".
firstName String;
 
// Defaults to null.           
secondName String?; 
 
// Initializes value to "John" and allows a future value to be null.         
thirdName String? = "John";  
 
// Initializes the value, which is unchangeable. 
// Note: the elements of constant lists and dictionaries are changeable.)
const LANGUAGE String = "EGL";        
 
 
/** Numeric value types. **/ 
 
// Defaults to 0.
someVal Int;                
 
// Defaults to 0.0.
coord Float;       
 
// Initializes value to 4.5
distance Float = 4.5;
 
// Initializes value to 4 
newDistance int = distance as int; 
 
// Defaults to 000.00.
// Can hold 5 digits total, with 2 after the decimal point.             
amount Decimal(5,2);        
 
 
/** Date-and-time value types. **/
 
// Defaults to today's date.
today Date;    
 
// Defaults to now. the second declaration uses the default pattern.
now TIMESTAMP("ddHHmmssffffff");
later TIMESTAMP("yyyyMMddHHmmss");
 
 
/** Boolean type **/
 
// Defaults to false.         
toggle Boolean;

Values of type List

// The element values are changeable, but the name cannot refer to another list.
const MINIMUMNUMBERS INT[] = [1,2,3,4,5];
 
// new dynamic array of size 0
vals Int[];               
 
// dynamic list, but not instantiated (vals must be instantiated before it can be accessed)
vals Int[]?;
 
// new dynamic array of size 4; all values set to their default value (0 in this example)               
vals Int[] = new Int[4];   
 
// dynamic array, initialized with 4 values
names String[] = [ "Paul", "John", "George", "Ringo" ];   
 
// assigns the first index in the array to "Bob"
names[1] = "Bob";                               
 
// assigns the last index in the array to "Ken"          
names[names.getSize()] = "Ken";                 
 
// new dynamic array of size 0
cities String[];              
 
// appends a new value to the end of the array             
cities.appendElement("Delta");     
 
// appends two new values to the end of the list cities.
cities.appendAll([ "Denver", "Pueblo" ]);  
 
// removes the second value in the array 
removeElement(2);                   
 
// removes all values from the array
cities.removeAll();