Conditions overview

A condition is a clause or class that evaluates to true or false when evaluated against an object. You can create and maintain a library of conditions. You can apply the conditions to fields, tabs, and other user interface controls to control the presentation. You can also apply conditions to security groups to control access to data, applications, and controls.

There are two types of conditions:
Expression-type condition
An expression-type condition is a clause that evaluates data and returns a result of true or false. The expression syntax is similar to structured query language (SQL) expressions, but it supports substitution variables. Use expressions to define simple conditions.
Class-type condition
For class-type conditions, the condition logic is contained in Java™ classes that are stored in a file under the root product folder. You can create the class files that contain the condition logic. When the class-type condition is evaluated, it returns a true or false result. Use a class-type condition if the logic to be evaluated is too complex to be accomplished with a simple expression.

Conditions are created and managed in the Conditional Expression Manager. Describe each condition that you create to help you identify the conditions to apply to user interface elements or security groups.

You can use the Application Designer to apply conditions to user interface elements. You can also apply conditions in the Security Groups application to control access to applications and to actions within applications.

You can modify expression-type conditions. When you modify the condition, access to all data and to all user interface controls that use the condition is modified. You can determine whether a condition is applied to user interface controls, security groups, or data restrictions by checking the reference count field. If the reference count field is zero then the condition is not applied.