Defining output content and output tables for a data rule in the Information Analyzer thin client

You can define the output that you want to see when you execute a data rule.

Output content defines what you see in the columns of an output table. Output tables created with the thin client can contain the value of rule variables and the value of physical columns. You can also choose the type of output table you want to use and the kind of output records you want to see when you execute a data rule.

  1. Follow the steps to add a new data rule.
  2. Once you have bindings set and data rule details defined, click on 3. Define output from the list of steps in the left pane.
  3. Select the output content that you want to see in your output table.
    1. Optional: Select the Variables tab and select the rule logic variables that you want to include in your output table. Click Add. Note: The rule logic variables will show up by default in the output workspace.
    2. Optional: Select the Columns tab and select the columns that you want to see in your output table. Click Add.
    3. Optional: Select the Expressions tab to add an expression by selecting the functions and variables in the grid and clicking Add expressions, dragging and dropping them to the expressions workspace, or by typing them out in the workspace. Then, click Add to output.

      For example, you can create a rule to calculate that a checking balance added to a savings balance is equal to the total account balance: CHECKING + SAVINGS = TOTAL_BALANCE. When you define the output columns of a rule, you can choose to include the checking column, savings column, and total_balance columns. You can also include the expected total_balance by adding the expression CHECKING + SAVINGS as an output column. This allows you to see both the TOTAL_BALANCE value as well as the expected total value as calculated by adding the checking and savings values together.

      When building expression logic, you can put your cursor where you want to add a new variable or function and then drag and drop the element that you want to add. You can also highlight a string in the expression workspace, and drag a new function over to replace the string.

    4. Optional: Select the Statistics and Attributes tab and select any additional attributes or statistics that you want to display in your output. Click Add. For example, you can select System Timestamp if you want information about the time the data rule was run.
  4. Optional: Click the Advanced settings link at the bottom right corner of the screen.
  5. Select an output table.
    Option Description
    System tables only This is the default table type. When this option is selected, no user-named rule output is associated with the rule.
    Simple user-named table (for use by a single data rule) This generates a read-only view of the rule output and can be used for the output of only a single rule.
    Advanced user-named table (supports multiple data rules) Advanced user-named output tables are physical tables that contain copied records, which means that advanced tables require additional storage space. Advanced tables can share output from multiple rules.
    1. Specify the schema and the table name in the Location box.
    2. Specify where you want to append or overwrite the metric information in the Update metric field. For simple user named tables, you must specify the maximum number of runs.
  6. If you selected a simple or advanced user-named table, and you would like to make the output table available as a data set in the workspace, check the box "Make the output table available as a data set in this workspace." If the check box is disabled, you must complete the following steps:
    1. Open InfoSphere Information Analyzer workbench and navigate to Project Properties from the Overview workspace.
    2. From the Analysis Database tab, check the box "Automatically register user-defined data rules output tables as project data sources." If the check box is disabled, make sure that the "Inherit the Global Analysis Database Settings" check box is unchecked.
  7. On the right side of the screen, select the output records that you want to display in your output from the Output Records menu.
    The default output type is Do not meet rule conditions. If you select Statistics Only, then no output details records are created. If you want to omit duplicate output records from the output tables, select Exclude Duplicates.
  8. Click Next to review and test your data rule and view sample output.
  9. Click Done.