Rule Statement Configuration > Actions

Actions

An action specifies the output from a rule statement. An action generates an output value when the conditions in the rule statement validate an input value.

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

Return a value that you enter.: Configure an action to return 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.
Return a value from an input column.: Configure an action to return 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.
Return a value from a reference table.: Configure an action to return 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 returns 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 read the word "JOHN" from the input data and return the word "MALE" from the reference table.
Return a value that you enter when an input data value matches a reference table value.: Configure an action to return a value when a condition is valid and when an input data value matches a value in a reference table. You select the input column, specify the reference table, and enter the value that the action returns. 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 returns the string that you entered. if the action does not find the input data in the reference table, the action returns the input value.; For example, you might configure an action to compare employee code data to a reference table that contains the valid employee codes in an organization. You define a function that returns the word "VALID" when an employee code matches a value in the reference table. If the function does not find an employee code in the reference table, the action returns the employee code from the input column.
Return the current date and time.: Configure an action to return the system date and time to nanosecond precision from the Data Integration Service host machine. The rule statement returns the date and time values in a date/time data type. You must specify the format for the date and time.
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 return 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 input data. The action returns 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 return 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 an 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 returns 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 return the data in uppercase.

Action Configuration Options

When you configure an action, you specify a data value that the rule statement can return as an output for the rule set.

Specify the data value in one of the following ways:

•Enter the data value.
•Define an expression to generate the data value.
•Select the data values in another input column in the rule set.

Use the action options to enter a data value or select another input. To define an expression, open the in a Define Action dialog box.

Enter a data value to the action.

Enter a value in the action data field.

Before enter a data value, select a data type from the action options in the rule statement. You can select a float, integer, or string data type.

You can also configure the action to return the current date and time. The rule statement does not display a data field when you specify the current date and time.

Add an input column to the action.

To use an input as the source of the output data, select the input option from the action options in the rule statement. Then, select the input name from the action options.

Apply an expression to the action.

To configure an expression, select the function option from the action menu. 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 options define the output for the action. Select an option type on the left-hand side of the dialog box. Use the editable fields to define the output.

1. Input options.
2. Function options.
3. Standardization options.
4. Merge options.
5. Case conversion options.
6. Editable fields for the option that you select.

To define an expression, select Functions. You can also define operations to standardize data values, merge data values, and change the character case of data values.