VBScript Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - Version 5.20, by Dr. Herong Yang

"/" - Arithmetic Division Operation

This section provides some detail rules and a tutorial example on how arithmetic division operation works in VBScript.

Here are some detail rules about the arithmetic operation - division:

  • Arithmetic division operation uses the division operator: "/"
  • Arithmetic division operation requires that at least one of the operands is a numeric subtype: Byte, Integer, Long, Single or Double.
  • If an operand is not a numeric subtype, it will be converted into a numeric subtype.
  • The Boolean subtype is considered as a numeric subtype in a division operation. "True" represents a numeric value of -1. "False" represents a numeric value of 0.
  • The Empty subtype is considered as a numeric subtype in a division operation. "Empty" represents a numeric value of 0.
  • When a String value is used in a division operation, it will be parsed into a Double value. If the parsing process fails, the division operation will raise the "Type mismatch" runtime error.
  • The operation will fail, if the second operand is a 0. Dividing by 0 is mathematically impossible.
  • The returning value is the result of the first operand divided by the second operand.
  • The subtype of the returning value is always Double regardless of the returning value range and subtypes of operands.

Here is a tutorial example showing you how arithmetic division operation rules work:

<html>
<body>
<!-- division_operation.html
 - Copyright (c) 2015, HerongYang.com, All Rights Reserved.
-->
<pre>
<script language="vbscript">
   document.writeln("21/7=" & (21/7) & " : " & TypeName(21/7))
   document.writeln("3/7=" & (3/7) & " : " & TypeName(3/7))
   document.writeln("3/777777=" & (3/777777) & " : " _ 
      & TypeName(3/777777))
   document.writeln("3/9.99=" & (3/9.99) & " : " & TypeName(3/9.99))
   document.writeln("3/333.333e200=" & (3/333.333e200) & " : " _
      & TypeName(3/333.333e200))
   document.writeln("3/""7""=" & (3/"7") & " : " & TypeName(3/"7"))
'  document.writeln("3/""7Hello""=" & (3/"7Hello") & " : " _
'     & TypeName(3/"7Hello"))
   document.writeln("3/True=" & (3/True) & " : " & TypeName(3/True))
'   document.writeln("3/False=" & (3/False) & " : " _
'      & TypeName(3/False))
   document.writeln("False/True=" & (False/True) & " : " _
      & TypeName(False/True))
   document.writeln("Empty/3=" & (Empty/3) & " : " _ 
      & TypeName(Empty/3))
</script>
</pre>
</body>
</html>

Here is the output of this VBScript example script:

21/7=3 : Double
3/7=0.428571428571429 : Double
3/777777=3.85714671428957E-06 : Double
3/9.99=0.3003003003003 : Double
3/333.333e200=9.000009000009E-203 : Double
3/"7"=0.428571428571429 : Double
3/True=-3 : Double
False/True=0 : Double
Empty/3=0 : Single

The output confirms some of arithmetic division operation rules:

  • Return values from all tests are Double values regardless of the returning value range and subtypes of operands.
  • The statement on (3/False) is commented out, because dividing by 0 is not allowed.
  • "Empty/3=0 : Single" is very strange. I don't know why.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of VBScript - Visual Basic Scripting Edition

 Variant Data Type, Subtypes, and Literals

Arithmetic Operations

 Introduction of Arithmetic Operations

 "+" - Arithmetic Addition Operation

 "-" - Arithmetic Subtraction Operation

 "*" - Arithmetic Multiplication Operation

"/" - Arithmetic Division Operation

 "\" - Arithmetic Integer Division Operation

 "Mod" - Arithmetic Modulus Operation

 "^" - Arithmetic Exponentiation Operation

 Numeric Comparison Operations and Logical Operations

 String Operations - Concatenation and Comparison

 Variable Declaration and Assignment Statement

 Expression and Order of Operation Precedence

 Statement Syntax and Statement Types

 Array Data Type and Related Statements

 Array References and Array Assignment Statements

 Conditional Statements - "If ... Then" and "Select Case"

 Loop Statements - "For", "While", and "Do"

 "Function" and "Sub" Procedures

 Built-in Functions

 Inspecting Variables Received in Procedures

 Error Handling Flag and the "Err" Object

 Regular Expression Pattern Match and Replacement

 scrrun.dll - Scripting Runtime DLL Library

 Creating Your Own Classes

 IE Web Browser Supporting VBScript

 IIS ASP Server Supporting VBScript

 WSH (Windows Script Host)

 References

 Printable Copy - PDF Version

"/" - Arithmetic Division Operation - Updated in 2015, by Dr. Herong Yang