Compares the left_operand to the right_operand and returns the result as an integer. The optional scale parameter is used to set the number of digits after the decimal place which will be used in the comparison. The return value is 0 if the two operands are equal. If the left_operand is larger than the right_operand the return value is +1 and if the left_operand is less than the right_operand the return value is -1.