Rule Wizard Guidelines

There are several reasons why the Rules Wizard may be unable to create the rule you have specified. The most common reasons include:

• An unrecognised variable, field or expression. The entry you have made may be misspelt or not "visible" from this part of the form. Correct the entry and then try clicking on the Finished button again. You can also click on the arrow next to the box to check if the entry you have made matches one of the list suggestions.

• You are trying to compare two values of a dissimilar "variable type".

Variable Types

The issue of a variable's type requires further explanation. Database fields, variables, formulas, dictionary codes, values and expressions represent the different "units of data" that Visual Builder can work with. (These terms are explained in detail under the section that discusses CAPITAL Business Script.)

These different commands and codes have one thing in common: each must be of a particular "variable type". The variable types that CAPITAL supports include:

• Character or string values, such as text messages. Typical character values include account codes, name and address fields, etc.

• Transactions, such as invoice transaction numbers, purchase order numbers, etc. These are similar to character strings but have a length of 9 characters.

• Numbers. Transaction balances, prices, etc., are stored as number or numeric types.

• Logical. These are on/off values and can only hold the values TRUE or FALSE.

• Date. These hold date values only. Invoice dates, last sale dates, etc., are stored in date fields.

Since the Rule Wizard can only construct valid rules if they are of the same variable type, you cannot compare a character/string value to, say, a date or number value. Character/string values must be compared to other character/string values. Dates must be compared to dates, numbers to numbers, and so on.

Browsing Data Fields

If you are unsure of what the type of the variable is that you are constructing the rule for, it can sometimes be helpful to click on the Browse... button found on the Wizard. Number values almost always have a decimal point and date values are always formatted with two slashes, i.e., 01/01/99, 04/08/01, or just //, or similar.

Other Comparisons

You do not have to compare a variable against another variable. You can also compare against specific data. For example, its perfectly valid to create a rule that only includes transactions that are assigned to a customer account whose category is "XYZ". This might take the form of:

Enter the field or variable to compare CUSCAT

Compare the above field or variable 'XYZ'

The basic rules are:

1. Surround text strings with ' ' (single quotes). I.e., 'John Smith', 'X123', 'NSW', etc.

2. Dates must be specified as strings and then converted to date values using the DTOC() function. For example: DTOC('01/01/99')

3. Simply enter numbers as numbers, i.e: 50000

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Related Topics

The Rule Wizard