ee.Algorithms.If

  • ee.Algorithms.If selects one of two input values based on a given condition, similar to an if-then-else statement.

  • The condition input determines the output, treating non-boolean values as true or false based on specific rules (e.g., 0 is false, empty strings are false).

  • trueCase and falseCase represent the values returned when the condition is true or false, respectively.

  • While ee.Algorithms.If is versatile, using remap might be more efficient for tasks like assigning numerical values to classes.

 Selects one of its inputs based on a condition, similar to an if-then-else construct.

UsageReturns
ee.Algorithms.If(condition, trueCase, falseCase)Object
ArgumentTypeDetails
conditionObject, default: nullThe condition that determines which result is returned. If this is not a boolean, it is interpreted as a boolean by the following rules:
  • Numbers that are equal to 0 or a NaN are false.
  • Empty strings, lists and dictionaries are false.
  • Null is false.
  • Everything else is true.
trueCaseObject, default: nullThe result to return if the condition is true.
falseCaseObject, default: nullThe result to return if the condition is false.

Examples

Code Editor (JavaScript)

print(ee.Algorithms.If(false, '*true*', '*false*'));  // The string "*false*"
print(ee.Algorithms.If(true, '*true*', '*false*'));  // The string "*true*"

// Consider using remap rather than If for tasks like numbers for classes.
print(ee.Algorithms.If(ee.String('Tree').compareTo('Tree'), 0, 1));
print(ee.Algorithms.If(ee.String('NotTree').compareTo('Tree'), 0, 1));

Python setup

See the Python Environment page for information on the Python API and using geemap for interactive development.

import ee
import geemap.core as geemap

Colab (Python)

# The string "*false*"
print(ee.Algorithms.If(False, '*true*', '*false*').getInfo())

# The string "*true*"
print(ee.Algorithms.If(True, '*true*', '*false*').getInfo())

# Consider using remap rather than If for tasks like numbers for classes.
print(ee.Algorithms.If(ee.String('Tree').compareTo('Tree'), 0, 1).getInfo())
print(ee.Algorithms.If(ee.String('NotTree').compareTo('Tree'), 0, 1).getInfo())