How to avoid the "if" statement

Question

qingtao 2013-4-17

Hi,

I want to use a conditional term in an equation but don't want to use "if", simply because I want to explore something else.

Here is the problem,
E=A(2)*B+A(2)*C
where A=[a,b].

Here "a" is a flag. And I'd like to have:

If A(1)=1, E=A(2)*B+C
if A(2)=2, E=B+A(2)*C

How this can be realized without the "if" statement?

Thanks a lot

Answer 1

编辑：Desiree Phillips 2013-4-17

Hi qingtao,

You mention 'a' is the flag, does that mean your second if statement should actually read:

if A(1)=2, E=B+A(2)*C

Either way, you can use logical statements as the coefficients for each equation. For example,

E = (A(1)==1)*(A(2)*B+C) + (A(1)==2)*(B+A(2)*C);

qingtao 2013-4-17

Thanks Desiree Phillips! This helps a lot