Logical rules are build from the available flow components, which are located in the toolbox that displays on every logical rule file. Available components include:
- Switch: A Switch is a set of of one or more "if" blocks. It follows an "if-then" pattern to determine the path to follow. Usually, if the input does not match any "if" blocks, the rule proceeds to the "else" block.
- Action: An Action calculates a value and assigns the result of the calculation to a data element.
- For Loop: A For Loop is a repeating sequence of activities contained within a process. The rule repeats the execution as long as the specified condition is true and ends when the condition is false.
- While Loop: A While Loop repeats a set of instructions until the condition is true.
- Call Logical Rules: A logical rule can execute another logical rule (if that rule either belongs to the same entity or is static), then use its result to continue its own execution. If the rule has a Parent Rule, S3 displays it in the Parent Rules tab in the left panel.
- Call Decision Table: A logical rule can execute a decision table, then use its result to continue its own execution.
- Call Excel Matrix: A logical rule can execute an Excel matrix, then use its result to continue its own execution.
- Return: A Return is a constant or variable of a specified datatype (string, int, etc.) that executing the rule produces.
- Break: A Break exits a Loop.
- Continue: A Continue ends the current iteration of a Loop and skips the rest of the statements in the innermost Loop of the indicated type. The rule continues executing at the top of the Loop with the next iteration.
- Query: A logical rule can use a query to retrieve data, then use that data to continue its own execution. You can call any query from the rule's linked entity. This feature is available, but it is preferable not to build your rules this way. Best practice is to keep logic independent of data.
- Notes: Notes are whatever text you want to display at whatever stage of the rule's execution you want to display it. If the application code is configured to display notes, application users can view notes whenever the application executes the rule in its code. A Note should explain the rule's execution in plain text that users can understand. This is common for rules that produce complicated calculations, so the user can understand how the application got its result.
- Method: A Method determines the Return (as in a calculation). A logical rule can use a method only if the entity is linked to its business object.
This post is part of the Rules topic. Click here to open the Rules Overview.