Easytrieve GE Operator

GE in Conditional Expressions

GE appears in IF, ELSE-IF, DO WHILE, and nested JOB conditions. IF SCORE GE 90 honors high achievers including exactly ninety. IF TENURE GE MIN-YRS qualifies for retention bonus. IF BALANCE GE 0 includes zero-balance accounts in active processing. True when left meets or exceeds right.

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JOB INPUT PAYROLL
  IF GROSS GE MIN-WAGE
     COMPLIANT = Y
  END-IF
 
  IF OT-HOURS GE 40
     PRINT OVERTIME-RPT
  END-IF

GE Versus Symbolic >=

GE Versus Strict GT

Policy language drives operator choice. At least five years maps to GE 5. More than five years maps to GT 5—exactly five fails GT. Minimum wage met or exceeded maps to GE MIN-WAGE. Above minimum only maps to GT MIN-WAGE—exact minimum fails. Document boundary when auditors map written policy to code. Off-by-one pay errors often trace to GT versus GE confusion at exact thresholds.

Numeric GE

IF GROSS GE 0 includes zero-pay rows—contrast IF GROSS GT 0 for positive only. IF UNITS GE REORDER-QTY triggers bulk discount including exact reorder quantity. Implied decimal scales apply as with other relational operators. IF RATE GE FLOOR-RATE validates rate floors in pricing files. Signed values compare with sign: IF ADJ GE -50 includes -50 and above on the number line.

Alphabetic GE

Less common than numeric GE but valid when collating defines ordered codes: IF GRADE GE C includes C and letters collating after C per EBCDIC rules—not intuitive English grade order without verifying collating table. Trailing spaces affect boundary behavior on fixed A fields. Prefer numeric or discrete EQ codes when alphabetic GE ranges confuse maintainers.

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JOB INPUT BENEFITS
  IF SERVICE-YRS GE 5
     PRINT LONGEVITY-RPT
  END-IF
 
  IF AGE GE 65
     PRINT SENIOR-BENEFIT
  END-IF

Field-to-Field GE

IF ACTUAL GE TARGET confirms quota met including exact target hit. IF CURR-DATE GE START-DATE validates active enrollment windows. IF SCORE GE CUTOFF-FIELD compares to dynamic threshold stored per record. Formats must align especially for dates and packed amounts.

GE With LT for Banded Ranges

IF AGE GE 18 AND AGE LT 65 defines working-age window—inclusive lower GE, strict upper LT unless LE 64 intended for through-sixty-four semantics. IF SCORE GE 60 AND SCORE LE 100 defines passing band with both boundaries inclusive when LE caps upper bound. EQ THRU closed intervals differ—IF CODE EQ 10 THRU 20 versus IF CODE GE 10 AND CODE LE 20 often equivalent for integers—verify THRU grammar for your release.

GE in Logical Expressions

IF TENURE GE 5 AND DEPT EQ 911 combines service floor with department filter. IF NOT AGE GE 18 expresses under-eighteen—prefer LT 18 for readability. IF AGE GE 65 OR DISABLED EQ Y combines inclusive age test with flag. Parentheses clarify mixed conditions.

Date GE Floors

IF EFF-DATE GE POLICY-DATE includes changes on effective day when date formats align as YYYYMMDD or comparable packed layout. Strict GT excludes same-day effective records—choose GE when same-day inclusion matches business calendar. Julian versus Gregorian must match before GE compares chronologically.

Testing GE Logic

1. Test one below, at, and one above boundary—at must pass GE.
2. Compare GE versus GT at exact minimum wage or overtime hour.
3. Verify IF GROSS GE 0 includes zero rows unlike GT 0.
4. Test banded IF with GE lower and LT or LE upper.
5. Validate date GE on boundary day with aligned formats.

Common GE Mistakes

• Using GT when policy says at least—should be GE.
• Using GE when policy says strictly above—should be GT.
• IF GROSS GE 0 when business wants positive pay only—use GT 0.
• Alphabetic GE ranges without collating verification.
• Mixing GE and >= without team convention.
• Mismatched date formats in GE compare.

Explain It Like I'm Five

GE means the same or bigger. If the rule is you must be at least this tall to ride, being exactly that tall counts—you can go. Strict GT would mean taller than the line only, so exactly on the line would not count. GE is the word for at least this much. Five years GE five includes exactly five years, not just six and up.

Exercises

1. Write IF OT-HOURS GE 40 PRINT using GE keyword only.
2. Explain GE versus GT at exactly minimum wage pay amount.
3. Write IF SERVICE-YRS GE 5 longevity filter.
4. Build working-age band with GE 18 and LT 65.
5. Contrast IF GROSS GE 0 with IF GROSS GT 0 in one paragraph.