Help With If Statements

I'm currently working on a dj script
I'm a DJ at an internet radio station and we just got a MC sever
we add costum music discs and they run in CC
now we are trying to set up a looping system that can loop at corret time for each disc as well as shuffle

while(true)do
  a = math.random(0,5)
  if a = 0 then b = 100 end
  if a = 1 then b = 255 end
  if a = 2 then b = 175 end
  if a = 3 then b = 126 end
  if a = 4 then b = 78 end
  if a = 5 then b = 160 end
  shell.run("dj", "play drive_"a)
  sleep(B)/>/>
end

someith is wrong with my if statments but i can figure out what
ive look through several tutorials but they should be right. im missing something
so i was hoping some might see what i dont.

Split into new topic.

Use the comparison operator (==) for your if conditions instead of the assignment operator (=).

Therefore:

if a == 0 then
  b = 100
end

etc

What campicus said, but keep in mind that if statements can still be one line statements.
And if you missed what campicus said, let me point it out for you:
He wrote   if a == 0 then b = 100 end.
You wrote if a = 0 then b = 100 end.
To say if something equals something else, you must use two equals signs, and not just one.

lastai, on 30 July 2013 - 06:59 PM said:

-snip-
Something is wrong with my if statements but i can figure out what.

And, something is wrong with your string concatenation. You have

shell.run("dj", "play drive_"a)

Which should be changed to

shell.run("dj", "play drive_"..a)

Even though your if statements aren't so wrong except that it should be '==' instead of '=' when checking if it's equal, I'm wondering.. Why don't you use 'elseif' statements?
Example:

local input = read() --I think you pretty much know what this does

if input == "Hello" then -- If the input is equal to 'Hello'
 print("Hello to you too!")

elseif input == "Goodbye" then -- If the input is equal to 'Goodbye' instead
 print("See ya!")

else -- If it's not equal to 'Hello' or 'Goodbye'
 print("What?")
end

And when you are doing this you only need 1 end since it only counts as one 'if' statement ;)/>