Actions

An action specifies the output from a rule statement.

To configure an action, select the action field in a rule statement. When you select the field, you open the Define Action dialog box.

The following image shows the Define Action dialog box:

The Define Action dialog box includes the following condition types:

Input: Use to specify a data value as the output from the action. Enter a data value, or select an input from the rule set.; When you select an input, the rule statement writes the input field from the same row as the input field in the condition.
Functions: Use to define a function that specifies the output from the action. The function might read data values that you enter, or function might read data inputs from the rule set.
Standardize: Use to replace words or characters in an input or to replace words or characters from an input.
Merge: Use to merge the data values from two or more inputs.
Convert Case: Use to change the character case of the data values on an input. Select an input from the rule set.

Types of Actions

When you configure an action, you specify the data that the rule statement writes when the operator validates the input data on the condition.

Configure an action to generate an output in one of the following ways:

Write a value that you enter.: Configure an action to write a data value that you specify.; For example, you might configure an action to return the word VALID when the input data matches a reference data value.
Replace an input with another input.: Configure an action to write a data value from another input in place of the current input. The action reads the data value on the corresponding row of the input that you select.; For example, a business might define a rule that requires all product records to use Quick Response (QR) codes in place of bar codes. You configure an action to replace an input column of bar code values with a corresponding column of QR code values.
Write a value from a reference table.: Configure an action to write a data value from a reference table. The action compares the input data to the values in the reference table that you specify. If the action finds the input data in the reference table, the action writes a reference data value that corresponds to the input data.; For example, you might configure an action to compare first name data to a reference table that identifies the gender of the first name. The action might write the word "MALE" as the output when the word "John" is the input. The action might read the word "JOHN" and write the word "MALE" as the output.
Remove data values from the input data.: Configure an action to remove a data value that you specify.; For example, the input data might include product terms that the business no longer uses. Configure the action to delete the write a version of the input data that omits the product terms.
Remove reference data values from the input data.: Configure an action to delete reference data values from an input.; The action compares the input data to the values in the reference table that you specify. If the action finds an input data value in the reference table, the action deletes the value from the corresponds to the input data. The action writes the edited version of the input data as output.; For example, you might configure an action to compare an input string to a reference table of salutation terms. The action might read the input string "MR JOHN SMITH" and write the string "JOHN SMITH" as the output.
Remove character spaces from the input data.: Configure an action to delete character spaces from the input data. Remove character spaces when the input data includes redundant character spaces.; For example, you might configure an action to remove character spaces from the following telephone number:
Use a function to determine the output value.: Configure an action to apply a function expression to the input data.; For example, you might configure the action to return the character length of the input data.
Merge values from multiple inputs.: Configure an action to merge data from two or more inputs.; For example, you might configure an action to merge a column of first name data and a column of second name data. The action writes a single field that contains the first name and second name.
Change the character case of the input data.: Configure an action to convert the character case of an input that you select.; For example, a rule statement might read a data set that stores data values in sentence case. Configure an action to write the data in uppercase.