LE is the keyword spelling for less than or equal in Broadcom relational operator documentation. IF SCORE LE 59 flags failing grades including exactly fifty-nine. IF DISCOUNT LE MAX-DISCOUNT keeps employees at the discount cap in the eligible set. IF EFF-DATE LE CYCLE-END retains records effective on or before the cycle close. Inclusive LE differs from strict LT: when SCORE is exactly sixty, IF SCORE LE 60 passes but IF SCORE LT 60 fails. Symbolic <= expresses the same inclusive test; LE reads clearly on printed listings beside EQ NE GT GE LT. Numeric LE compares magnitude with implied decimals. Alphabetic LE uses collating sequence—on z/OS typically EBCDIC. Beginners code LT when policy says at most or up to and including—auditors then dispute missing boundary records. This page teaches LE syntax, equivalence with <=, contrast with LT and GE, field-to-field ceiling tests, date and amount thresholds, THRU range combinations, logical AND patterns for banded logic, and validation at exact boundary values for limit-driven Easytrieve batch jobs.
LE appears between operands in IF, ELSE-IF, DO WHILE, and nested JOB logic. IF BALANCE LE 0 includes zero-balance accounts. IF EFF-DATE LE CUTOFF-DATE selects records on or before a policy change. IF HOURS LE STD-HOURS includes full-time schedules at exactly standard hours. True when left orders before or equal to right; false only when left is strictly greater.
12345678JOB INPUT PAYROLL IF GROSS LE MIN-WAGE PRINT AT-MINIMUM-RPT END-IF IF HOURS LE STD-HOURS PRINT REGULAR-SCHED-RPT END-IF
| Form | Example | At equality |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword LE | IF AMT LE 100 | |
| Symbolic <= | IF AMT <= 100 | |
| Keyword LT | IF AMT LT 100 | |
| Keyword GE | IF AMT GE 100 |
Policy language at most sixty hours maps to LE 60, not LT 60, when exactly sixty must pass. Failing grades at or below fifty-nine map to LE 59 when fifty-nine is the highest failing score. Misreading policy as strict LT when the boundary belongs in the set causes off-by-one production bugs. Document boundary intent beside the IF when compliance depends on it. At exactly the boundary value, LE and LT always disagree—that is the test case auditors request first.
Packed P 2 currency: 100.00 LE 100.00 is true. Negative numbers order below positive: IF BALANCE LE 0 includes overdraft and zero. IF TAX LE FLOOR-TAX compares two fields—types and scales must align. Implied decimal alignment matters: P 2 compared to N 5 may promote per compiler rules—test in development. IF COUNT LE MAX-CAP enforces volume ceilings including records at the cap.
IF CODE LE M includes codes collating before or equal to M in EBCDIC—often A through M ranges depending on literal and field definition. IF NAME LE SMITH selects names sorting before or equal to SMITH in directory order. Trailing spaces participate: shorter effective values padded to field length compare as longer strings with spaces. Quote literals to match business length for single-character range splits.
12345678JOB INPUT INVENTORY IF ON-HAND LE REORDER-PT PRINT ADEQUATE-STOCK-RPT END-IF IF WHSE-CODE LE 'M' PRINT ZONE-A-THRU-M-RPT END-IF
IF CURR-DATE LE EXP-DATE identifies certificates not yet expired when dates compare as numeric or character per format—equality means expires on that day. IF ACTUAL LE BUDGET flags underspend lines including exact budget match. IF SCORE LE PASS-LEVEL compares examinee to cutoff field defined in Library. Mismatched date formats—MMDDYY versus CCYYMMDD—make LE meaningless without conversion fields.
Closed upper bands use LE alone: IF AGE LE 17 for minors when seventeen is included. Open lower with closed upper combines operators: IF AGE GE 18 AND AGE LE 65 for working-age window. EQ THRU expresses inclusive ranges on both ends—IF CODE EQ 1 THRU 5 differs from IF CODE LE 5 when code zero should exclude. Choose LE for single inclusive ceiling; combine GE and LE for windows; use THRU when both endpoints are fixed constants.
IF AMT LE 0 OR AMT GE 1000 flags outliers both tails. IF NOT AMT LE 100 expresses strictly-greater-than-one-hundred logic—prefer GT 100 for readability. Parentheses clarify: IF (SCORE LE 59) AND (ATTEND GE 80). Chained IF A LE B LE C is not valid in most grammars—split into AND conditions with separate LE tests.
When dates store as packed or character YYYYMMDD, LE compares chronologically if formats align. IF TRAN-DATE LE CUTOFF includes transactions on the cutoff day—use LT with adjusted cutoff for exclusive end dates. Julian versus Gregorian layouts must match before LE tests mean what schedulers expect. Same-day cutoffs are the classic LE versus LT decision point in month-end jobs.
LE means the same size or smaller. If the rule is kids who are this tall or shorter get the small sticker, you measure against the line. Exactly as tall as the line still counts because LE includes same size. LT would mean only shorter than the line—exactly as tall would not count. LE is the word version of the less-than-or-equal sign. Numbers on the number line at or below the limit pass. Letters at or before the limit letter in the computer alphabet pass too.
1. IF SCORE LE 59 means:
2. LE and symbolic <= in IF AMT LE 100 versus IF AMT <= 100:
3. IF DISCOUNT LE MAX-DISCOUNT at exact cap:
4. IF AGE LE 17 compared to IF AGE LT 18 for integer ages:
5. IF EFF-DATE LE CUTOFF keeps records: