$if / $elseIf / $else / $endif — Conditional Branching

The $if family of tokens provides conditional branching in BDFD scripts. These are structural tokens handled at the BDFD parser level, not dispatched as regular function calls. They allow you to execute different blocks of commands based on runtime conditions.

How It Works

When the parser encounters a $if[condition] token, it evaluates the condition. If the condition is true, it executes the block immediately following $if, up to the next $elseIf, $else, or $endif. If the condition is false, it skips forward:

1. It checks any subsequent $elseIf[condition] blocks in order.
2. If no condition matches, the optional $else block is executed.
3. $endif is always required to close the if-block, even if only $if and $else are used.

Condition Syntax

Conditions are BDFD expressions. They are not traditional programming language booleans — they are evaluated at runtime by the BDFD expression engine.

Supported Comparison Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example
==	Equal to	$getUserVar[score]==100
!=	Not equal to	$getUserVar[name]!=Guest
>	Greater than	$getUserVar[coins]>0
<	Less than	$getUserVar[hp]<25
>=	Greater or equal	$getUserVar[level]>=10
<=	Less or equal	$getUserVar[wins]<=3

Logical Operators

Combine multiple conditions with $and and $or:

$if[$and[$getUserVar[gold]>=100;$getUserVar[rank]>=5]==true]
$if[$or[$checkContains[$message;ping];$checkContains[$message;pong]]==true]

Inline Check Functions

Use $checkCondition or $checkContains inside an $if:

$if[$checkCondition[>=;$getUserVar[age];18]==true]
$if[$checkContains[$message;admin]==true]

Structural Rules

• $endif is mandatory — every $if must have exactly one $endif.
• $else is optional — at most one per $if block.
• $elseIf is optional — you can chain as many as you need.
• Nesting is supported — you can place $if...$endif inside another $if block.
• Conditions are evaluated sequentially — the first matching branch wins; subsequent branches are skipped.

Common Pitfalls

• Forgetting $endif causes a parse error.
• Using = instead of == for equality — BDFD requires double equals.
• Comparing strings with numeric operators — make sure the value type matches the comparison intent.