Help with contains within if else

[#1]

Hi,

I have written the following piece of code which checks if/not a list contains a character and performs some steps accordingly.

For some reason, the script doesnt check for "if contains" condition and always executes the else part.I think I have a silly mistake here.

Clear Symbols();
Delete Symbols();
clear globals();
 
 

dtNext = Open("C:\temp\output.csv","invisible");
Summarize(dtNext, testlist = By(:test));
show(testlist );
SAVEPATH = "C:\temp\";
If(contains(testlist ,"M"),

Macrodt=New Table("test_type",
New Column("test_type",
Character,
Nominal,
Set Values( {"Morning"})
),
invisible
);




, //else
Macrodt=New Table("test_type",
New Column("test_type",
Character,
Nominal,
Set Values( {"Evening"})
),
invisible
);
);

//Save macro file
Macrodt<<Save(SAVEPATH||"test_type.csv");

[#2]

There's no obvious mistake in your code. We'll need some more details to help figure where the confusion is.

Here's an example showing that your prototype is correct.

dts = {"$SAMPLE_DATA\Fitness.jmp", "$SAMPLE_DATA\Big Class.jmp"}; 
 
For( i = 1, i <= N Items( dts ), i++,
	dtNext = Open( dts[i] );
	Summarize( dtNext, testlist = By( :age ) );

	Show( testlist );

	If( Contains( testlist, "42" ), 

		Show( "testlist contains 42" );
	
	, //else
 
		Show( "testlist doesn't contain 42" )
	);
);

The log:

/*:

testlist = {"38", "40", "42", "43", "44", "45", "47", "48", "49", "50", "51", "52", "54", "57"};
"testlist contains 42";
testlist = {"12", "13", "14", "15", "16", "17"};
"testlist doesn't contain 42";

[#3 · Accepted solution]

As @Jeff_Perkinson suggests, more info would help, but I'll take a stab at what I think may be a source of confusion for you. The "Contains" function can be used on a list OR a string... if you are looking for whether any list item contains a specific character, your "If" statement will not produce the desired result as written. If that is your intent, you could surround your "testlist" variable with the Concat Items function in the "If" statement, i.e. Concat Items(testlist) evaluates to a single string made up of all of the list items stitched together. Now the Contains function will return a positive response when looking for a specific character if it exists in the new string. 

Hope this helps.

[#4]

I used cocncatitems function and it worked.
Thanks