When you configure a rule specification, you translate the requirements of a business rule into one or more rule statements. The rule statements represent the logic that determines whether a data set conforms to the business rule.
Before you configure the rule specification, perform the following steps:
1Verify the business rule requirements.
2Verify the business data properties.
3Determine the sequence of the steps in the rule.
Note: When you verify the business rule requirements, you may determine that the business rule addresses a key dimension of data quality in your data. You can optionally select the data quality dimension that your business rule represents when you configure the rule specification. For more information about data quality dimensions, see Rule specifications and dimensions.
Verifying the business rule requirements
Before you configure a rule specification, discuss the business rule with the data owners in the organization. Verify that the business rule is valid and ready to apply to the business data.
1 Identify the business rule that the rule specification represents.
2 Identify the business data set that the business rule validates.
3List the business rule requirements that apply to the data inputs.
The business rule requirements indicate the types of rule logic that you define in the rule specification.
4Identify the information types that the business rule applies to.
The information types indicate the data types of the inputs that you create in the rule specification.
Verifying the business data properties
Before you create a rule specification, identify the business data that the rule specification can apply to. Work with a developer or data steward to identify the data source.
1Identify one or more data sets that you or another Data Integration user can select in a mapping that reads the rule specification. For example, identify the database and the table that contain the mapping source data.
2Verify the data types of the data columns that the rule specification will analyze. You specify the data types when you create the inputs in the rule specification.
Note: You might not create an input for every column in the data set.
Determine the sequence of the steps in the rule
At a high level, a business rule defines a single objective that the business data must satisfy. To represent the objective in the rule specification, you'll define at least one rule statement in basic mode or you'll write at least one expression in advanced mode. If the business rule defines more than one data outcome, you might define more complex rule logic.
In basic mode, you might add rule sets and rule statements below the primary rule set to validate the data that the primary rule set analyzes. In advanced mode, you might nest multiple IF-THEN-ELSE conditions within the primary condition that you define.
1Create the inputs that the rule statements analyze. The inputs are a key prerequisite for the rule statements. The inputs represent the columns in the business data set that the business rule applies to.
2Identify the business rule conditions that the business data must satisfy. Plan a rule statement or an IF-THEN-ELSE condition for each condition.
3Determine the sequence in which the rules must analyze the data.
Start from the lowest dependencies in the business rule, and plan a rule set or IF-THEN-ELSE condition for each dependency.