All values are stored in the symbol table as strings. However, there are built-in commands and operators that enable you to manipulate the strings as if they were integers or lists.
The ifint flow control command allows you to compare values as if they were integers. To make the comparison, the Setup program uses the atol function to convert the value string to an integer. There are also a set of commands (set-add, set-mul, and so forth) that enable you to perform simple arithmetic operations on value strings.
A list value is a string that begins with the’{‘ character and ends with a’}’ character. A list contains zero or more items separated by commas. Lists can be nested, that is, a list item can begin another list. Examples of lists are:
{}
{"item1", "item2"}
{"{"name1","value1"}","{"name2","value2"}"}