Override rules

Not all transactions satisfy the conditions of the validation rules that apply to them, and violations of those rules occur. When a violation of a validation rule occurs, override rules are evaluated. Override rules let an operator or manager make an exception when a validation rule is violated when it is desirable to allow the transaction to proceed for business reasons.

To apply to a transaction, an override rule must be associated with the validation rule, the enterprise, and the transaction channel.

An override rule is created similarly to a validation rule. Override rules are evaluated in this order:
  1. Disallow rules: If an override rule is found that disallows a transaction, the transaction cannot be approved by anyone.
  2. Allow rules: If an override approval rule is found that waives the violation, the transaction is allowed and no approvals are necessary.
  3. Approval rules: If an override rule is found that results in a violation, a violation message is returned with a list of all approvers, from the minimum to the maximum.
  4. If a violation has a prior override approval in effect for a transaction, whether other override rules are considered depends on the validation definition, the approval rules, and the approval plan.
The list of approvers comes from a defined approval plan that specifies who can reject a transaction or allow it to continue, and under what circumstances.

Like a validation rule, an override rule is associated with an enterprise, and the validation domain must be enabled before system attempts to evaluate the rules.

Multiple override rules can apply to a validation. Any override rule violations and the approval sequence are logged.

Example: maximum number of coupons

An enterprise restricts the number of coupons that can be applied to an order to five per order. An exception is a "Gold" customer, who is allowed to use 10 coupons. Any other exception must be approved by a manager. Here are the rules that apply to the transaction:

Table 1. Sample override rules for maximum number of coupons validation rule
Validation rule Override rules
For enterprise E1: Maximum number of coupons that are allowed per order = 5 Rule 1: If (CustomerType=’GOLD’ and NumberOfCoupons<=10), then approval is not required. This rule is an allow rule.
Rule 2: If (CustomerType=’OTHER’ and NumberOfCoupons>10, then transaction is not allowed. This rule is a disallow rule.
Rule 3: If (CustomerType=’GOLD’ and NumberOfCoupons > 10, then manager approval is required. This rule is an approval rule.
Rule 4: If (CustomerType=’OTHER’ and NumberOfCoupons>5), then approval is required. This rule is also an "approval" rule.