Data Discovery Guide > Part II: Data Discovery with Informatica Analyst > Rules in Informatica Analyst > Rules in Informatica Analyst Overview
  

Rules in Informatica Analyst Overview

A rule is business logic that defines conditions applied to source data when you run a column profile. You can add a rule to the profile to validate data.
You might want to use a rule in different circumstances. You can add a rule to cleanse one or more data columns. You can add a lookup rule that provides information that the source data does not provide. You can add a rule to validate a cleansing rule for a data quality or data integration project.
When you create or edit a column profile, you can create a rule and add it to the profile, or apply an existing rule to the profile. You can use expression rules or predefined rules in a column profile.
After you run the profile, the Analyst tool displays the profile results for the rule column in summary view. You can view the column results for a rule in detailed view. The output of a rule can be one or more virtual columns. The virtual columns exist in the profile results. The Analyst tool runs a profile on the virtual columns. For example, you use a predefined rule that splits a column that contains first and last names into FIRST_NAME and LAST_NAME virtual columns. The Analyst tool runs the profile on the FIRST_NAME and LAST_NAME columns.
Note: If you delete a rule object that other object types reference, the Analyst tool displays a message that lists those object types. Determine the impact of deleting the rule before you delete it.