EXACT Function

Returns true if the second string evaluates to be an exact match of the first string. Source values can be string literals, column references, or expressions that evaluate to strings.

Wrangle vs. SQL: This function is part of Wrangle, a proprietary data transformation language. Wrangle is not SQL. For more information, see Wrangle Language.

Basic Usage

String literal reference example:

exact('a','a')

Output: Returns true, since the values are identical.

String literal reference example:

exact('a','A')

Output: Returns false, since the capitalization is different between the two strings.

Column reference example:

exact(string1,string2)

Output: Returns the evaluation of string1 column values being exact matches with the corresponding string2 column values.

Syntax and Arguments

exact(string_ref1,string_ref2 [,ignore_case])

Argument	Required?	Data Type	Description
string_ref1	Y	string	Name of first column or first string literal to apply to the function
string_ref2	Y	string	Name of second column or second string literal to apply to the function
ignore_case	N	string	When`true`, matching is case-insensitive. Default is`false`.

For more information on syntax standards, see Language Documentation Syntax Notes.

string_ref1, string_ref2

String literal, column reference, or expression whose elements you want to compare based on this function.

Usage Notes:

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
Yes	String literal, column reference, or expression evaluating to a string	myString1, myString2

ignore_case

When true, matches are case-insensitive. Default is false.

Note

This argument is not required. By default, matches are case-sensitive.

Required?	Data Type	Example Value
No	String literal evaluating to a Boolean	'true'

Examples

Tip

For additional examples, see Common Tasks.

Example - Simple string comparisons

This example demonstrates functions that can be used to compare two sets of strings.

Functions:

Item	Description
STRINGGREATERTHAN Function	Returns `true` if the first string evaluates to be greater than the second string, based on a set of common collation rules.
STRINGGREATERTHANEQUAL Function	Returns `true` if the first string evaluates to be greater than or equal to the second string, based on a set of common collation rules.
STRINGLESSTHAN Function	Returns `true` if the first string evaluates to be less than the second string, based on a set of common collation rules.
STRINGLESSTHANEQUAL Function	Returns `true` if the first string evaluates to be less than or equal to the second string, based on a set of common collation rules.
EXACT Function	Returns `true` if the second string evaluates to be an exact match of the first string. Source values can be string literals, column references, or expressions that evaluate to strings.

Source:

The following table contains some example strings to be compared.

rowId	stringA	stringB
1	a	a
2	a	A
3	a	b
4	a	1
5	a	;
6	;	1
7	a	a
8	a	aa
9	abc	x

Note that in row #6, stringB begins with a space character.

Transformation:

For each set of strings, the following functions are applied to generate a new column containing the results of the comparison.

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	STRINGGREATERTHAN(stringA,stringB)
Parameter: New column name	'greaterThan'

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	STRINGGREATERTHANEQUAL(stringA,stringB)
Parameter: New column name	'greaterThanEqual'

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	STRINGLESSTHAN(stringA,stringB)
Parameter: New column name	'lessThan'

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	STRINGLESSTHANEQUAL(stringA,stringB)
Parameter: New column name	'lessThanEqual'

Transformation Name	`New formula`
Parameter: Formula type	Single row formula
Parameter: Formula	EXACT(stringA,stringB)
Parameter: New column name	'exactEqual'

Results:

In the following table, the Notes column has been added manually.


true
false
false
true
false
Aa1;
false
false
false

rowId	stringA	stringB	lessThanEqual	lessThan	greaterThanEqual	greaterThan	exactEqual	Notes
1	a	a	true	false	true	false	true	Evaluation of differences between `STRINGLESSTHAN` and `STRINGGREATERTHAN` and greater than versions.
2	a	A	true	true	false	false	false	Comparisons are case-sensitive. Uppercase letters are greater than lowercase letters.
3	a	b	true	true	false	false	`false`	Letters later in the alphabet (b) are greater than earlier letters (a).
4	a	1	false	false	true	true	`false`	Letters (a) are greater than digits (1).
5	a	;	false	false	true	true	false	Letters (a) are greater than non-alphanumerics (;).
6	;	1	true	true	false	false	false	Digits (1) are greater than non-alphanumerics (;). Therefore, the following characters are listed in order of evaluation: Aa1;
7	a	a	false	false	true	true	false	Letters (and any non-breaking character) are greater than space values.
8	a	aa	true	true	false	false	false	The second string is greater, since it contains one additional string at the end.
9	abc	x	true	true	false	false	false	The second string is greater, since its first letter is greater than the first letter of the first string.

In this section: