Syntax:

char= &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char/= &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char< &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char> &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char<= &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char>= &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char-equal &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char-not-equal &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char-lessp &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char-greaterp &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char-not-greaterp &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

char-not-lessp &rest characters+ => generalized-boolean

Arguments and Values:

character---a character.

generalized-boolean---a generalized boolean.

Description:

These predicates compare characters.

char= returns true if all characters are the same; otherwise, it returns false. If two characters differ in any implementation-defined attributes, then they are not char=.

char/= returns true if all characters are different; otherwise, it returns false.

char< returns true if the characters are monotonically increasing; otherwise, it returns false. If two characters have identical implementation-defined attributes, then their ordering by char< is consistent with the numerical ordering by the predicate < on their codes.

char> returns true if the characters are monotonically decreasing; otherwise, it returns false. If two characters have identical implementation-defined attributes, then their ordering by char> is consistent with the numerical ordering by the predicate > on their codes.

char<= returns true if the characters are monotonically nondecreasing; otherwise, it returns false. If two characters have identical implementation-defined attributes, then their ordering by char<= is consistent with the numerical ordering by the predicate <= on their codes.

char>= returns true if the characters are monotonically nonincreasing; otherwise, it returns false. If two characters have identical implementation-defined attributes, then their ordering by char>= is consistent with the numerical ordering by the predicate >= on their codes.

char-equal, char-not-equal, char-lessp, char-greaterp, char-not-greaterp, and char-not-lessp are similar to char=, char/=, char<, char>, char<=, char>=, respectively, except that they ignore differences in case and might have an implementation-defined behavior for non-simple characters. For example, an implementation might define that char-equal, etc. ignore certain implementation-defined attributes. The effect, if any, of each implementation-defined attribute upon these functions must be specified as part of the definition of that attribute.

Examples:

 (char= #\d #\d) =>  true
 (char= #\A #\a) =>  false
 (char= #\d #\x) =>  false
 (char= #\d #\D) =>  false
 (char/= #\d #\d) =>  false
 (char/= #\d #\x) =>  true
 (char/= #\d #\D) =>  true
 (char= #\d #\d #\d #\d) =>  true
 (char/= #\d #\d #\d #\d) =>  false
 (char= #\d #\d #\x #\d) =>  false
 (char/= #\d #\d #\x #\d) =>  false
 (char= #\d #\y #\x #\c) =>  false
 (char/= #\d #\y #\x #\c) =>  true
 (char= #\d #\c #\d) =>  false
 (char/= #\d #\c #\d) =>  false
 (char< #\d #\x) =>  true
 (char<= #\d #\x) =>  true
 (char< #\d #\d) =>  false
 (char<= #\d #\d) =>  true
 (char< #\a #\e #\y #\z) =>  true
 (char<= #\a #\e #\y #\z) =>  true
 (char< #\a #\e #\e #\y) =>  false
 (char<= #\a #\e #\e #\y) =>  true
 (char> #\e #\d) =>  true
 (char>= #\e #\d) =>  true
 (char> #\d #\c #\b #\a) =>  true
 (char>= #\d #\c #\b #\a) =>  true
 (char> #\d #\d #\c #\a) =>  false
 (char>= #\d #\d #\c #\a) =>  true
 (char> #\e #\d #\b #\c #\a) =>  false
 (char>= #\e #\d #\b #\c #\a) =>  false
 (char> #\z #\A) =>  implementation-dependent
 (char> #\Z #\a) =>  implementation-dependent
 (char-equal #\A #\a) =>  true
 (stable-sort (list #\b #\A #\B #\a #\c #\C) #'char-lessp)
=>  (#\A #\a #\b #\B #\c #\C)
 (stable-sort (list #\b #\A #\B #\a #\c #\C) #'char<)
=>  (#\A #\B #\C #\a #\b #\c) ;Implementation A
=>  (#\a #\b #\c #\A #\B #\C) ;Implementation B
=>  (#\a #\A #\b #\B #\c #\C) ;Implementation C
=>  (#\A #\a #\B #\b #\C #\c) ;Implementation D
=>  (#\A #\B #\a #\b #\C #\c) ;Implementation E

Affected By: None.

Exceptional Situations:

Should signal an error of type program-error if at least one character is not supplied.

See Also:

Section 2.1 (Character Syntax), Section 13.1.10 (Documentation of Implementation-Defined Scripts)

Notes:

If characters differ in their code attribute or any implementation-defined attribute, they are considered to be different by char=.

There is no requirement that (eq c1 c2) be true merely because (char= c1 c2) is true. While eq can distinguish two characters that char= does not, it is distinguishing them not as characters, but in some sense on the basis of a lower level implementation characteristic. If (eq c1 c2) is true, then (char= c1 c2) is also true. eql and equal compare characters in the same way that char= does.

The manner in which case is used by char-equal, char-not-equal, char-lessp, char-greaterp, char-not-greaterp, and char-not-lessp implies an ordering for standard characters such that A=a, B=b, and so on, up to Z=z, and furthermore either 9<A or Z<0.

• CHARACTER-PROPOSAL:2-1-1