if-not-equal

NAME

if-not-equal - compare two values for inequality

SYNOPSIS

state-name:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: <value1>
    right: <value2>
  goto:
    true: <not-equal-state>
    false: <equal-state>

DESCRIPTION

The if-not-equal tool is the negated version of if-equal. It returns "true" if the values differ, or "false" if they are equal.

Both values are trimmed of whitespace before comparison. The comparison is case-sensitive.

ARGUMENTS

Argument	Required	Default	Description
`left`	Yes	-	First value to compare
`right`	Yes	-	Second value to compare

EXIT CODES

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success (outputs “true” or “false”)
`1`	Missing required argument

OUTPUT

The tool outputs "true" if the values differ, or "false" if they are equal.

EXAMPLES

Detect Changes

check-changed:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: "{{ old_value }}"
    right: "{{ new_value }}"
  goto:
    true: handle-change
    false: no-change

Skip If Already Done

check-status:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: "{{ status }}"
    right: "completed"
  goto:
    true: do-work
    false: already-done

Validate Environment

ensure-not-production:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: "{{ environment }}"
    right: "production"
  goto:
    true: allow-operation
    false: block-production

Check for Errors

verify-no-error:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: "{{ error_code }}"
    right: "0"
  goto:
    true: handle-error
    false: continue-success

COMMON PATTERNS

Guard Against Specific Value

not-default:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: "{{ config_value }}"
    right: "default"
  goto:
    true: use-custom-config
    false: use-default-config

Change Detection Loop

watch-changes:
  tool: bash
  arguments:
    command: cat state.txt
  output: var(current_state)
  next: detect-change

detect-change:
  tool: if-not-equal
  arguments:
    left: "{{ current_state }}"
    right: "{{ previous_state }}"
  goto:
    true: state-changed
    false: no-change