Compare two numbers by using the Double.compare method.

Summary

Compare two numbers numerically using Java’s Double.compare() method, returning -1, 0, or 1.

Syntax 

${ncompare;<number1>;<number2>}

Parameters

  • number1: First number to compare (can be integer or floating-point)
  • number2: Second number to compare (can be integer or floating-point)

Behavior

Compares the two numbers numerically and returns:

  • 0 - The numbers are equal
  • 1 - The first number is greater than the second
  • -1 - The first number is less than the second

Numbers are parsed as doubles, supporting both integers and floating-point values.

Examples 

# Equal numbers
${ncompare;42;42}
# Returns: 0

# First number greater
${ncompare;100;50}
# Returns: 1

# First number less
${ncompare;10;20}
# Returns: -1

# Floating-point comparison
${ncompare;3.14;2.71}
# Returns: 1

# Negative numbers
${ncompare;-5;-10}
# Returns: 1 (-5 is greater than -10)

# Use in conditional logic
-include ${if;${ncompare;${Bundle-Version};2.0};modern.bnd;legacy.bnd}

# Compare with zero
${ncompare;${errorcount};0}
# Returns: 1 if errors exist, 0 if no errors

# Numeric comparison (not lexicographic)
${ncompare;10;2}
# Returns: 1 (10 is greater than 2 numerically)

# Compare with macro values
${ncompare;${size;${errors}};5}
# Check if more than 5 errors

Use Cases

  1. Threshold Checks: Verify if a value exceeds a threshold
  2. Conditional Builds: Make decisions based on numeric values
  3. Validation: Check if counts, sizes, or versions meet requirements
  4. Quality Gates: Ensure numeric metrics are within acceptable ranges
  5. Build Optimization: Skip steps based on numeric conditions

Notes

  • Comparison is numeric, not lexicographic
  • For string comparison, use compare
  • For OSGi version comparison, use vcompare
  • Both arguments are parsed as double-precision floating-point numbers
  • Returns only -1, 0, or 1
  • Handles integers, decimals, and negative numbers
  • Useful with if macro for conditional logic
  • compare - Compare strings lexicographically
  • vcompare - Compare OSGi version strings
  • if - Conditional macro that can use comparison results
  • size - Get list size for numeric comparisons

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java