Business rules

With business rules you change data while it passes through a flow, without changing the applications themselves. A business rule always fills one field in the APIcenter datamodel, for example the payment method of an order. You can apply conditions, translate values with a mapping table, set a default value, or change the format of the result with a micro-function.

What you see

• A block per business rule with a dot (green = enabled, grey = disabled), arrows to move it up or down, and its name. Click the name to open the rule.
• No business rules yet. when the flow has none.
• The button Add business rule and a link to the manual.

The rules run from top to bottom. A rule can work on the result of a rule above it for the same field.

The parts of a business rule

• Enable business rule: turn the rule on or off.
• When to execute the Business Rule: before or after APIcenter enriches the data. After is the default.
• Rule Datamodel Field: the field the final result is written to. Choose it first: the other options appear once you have selected a field.
• Business Rule Alias: an optional, clearer name for the rule.
• Make use of a conditional table: apply an action only when conditions are met. Conditions are rows in blocks, with Condition, Start, Field Name, Operand, Value, End and Action.
• Make use of a mapping table: translate values, with an Input value and an Output value per row. Under What to do with a value that cannot be mapped you choose what happens with values that are not in the table.
• Make use of a default value: use a fixed value in Value to use as a default. With Force the usage of the default it is always used, also when the data has a value.
• Make use of a micro-function: change the format of the result, for example remove spaces at the start or end.

Each part has a question mark with more explanation.

Example: translate payment methods

Your webshop sends the payment method as paypal, but your ERP expects its own code, for example PP.

1. Click Add business rule and open the new rule.
2. Under Rule Datamodel Field, choose the field for the payment method.
3. Turn on Make use of a mapping table.
4. Click Add and fill in paypal as Input value and PP as Output value. Add a row for every other payment method.
5. Under What to do with a value that cannot be mapped, choose for example Use value to keep the original value.
6. Check that Enable business rule is on and click Save.

From then on, the flow sends PP for every order paid with PayPal.

Tips

• After a change, check the next order in the Activity details.
• Turn a rule off with Enable business rule instead of deleting it, if you may need it again.
• Want to use another field of an application? Use Data mapping. Want to skip records completely? Use Filter options.
• Need help setting up a rule? Ask for a consultant with a support ticket.