[Numpy-discussion] multi-comparison expressions

[John]

hi,

why does the ValueError appear below, and how can i make that 2<a<5 
expression work when a is an array?

thanks.

 >>> from numpy import reshape,arange
 >>> a=reshape(arange(9),(3,3))
 >>> a
array([[0, 1, 2],
      [3, 4, 5],
      [6, 7, 8]])
 >>> 2<a
array([[False, False, False],
      [ True,  True,  True],
      [ True,  True,  True]], dtype=bool)
 >>> a<5
array([[ True,  True,  True],
      [ True,  True, False],
      [False, False, False]], dtype=bool)
 >>> 2<a<5
Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ValueError: The truth value of an array with more than one element is 
ambiguous. Use a.any() or a.all()

nor does it work with constant arrays:

 >>> from numpy import zeros
 >>> twos=zeros(a.shape)+2
 >>> fives=zeros(a.shape)+5
 >>> twos<a
array([[False, False, False],
      [ True,  True,  True],
      [ True,  True,  True]], dtype=bool)
 >>> a<fives
array([[ True,  True,  True],
      [ True,  True, False],
      [False, False, False]], dtype=bool)
 >>> twos<a<fives
Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ValueError: The truth value of an array with more than one element is 
ambiguous. Use a.any() or a.all()

but it works with builtin numbers:

 >>> b=3
 >>> 2<b<5
True