Business Rule

The Business Rule task allows the evaluation of business rules defined in spreadsheets. Supported formats include CSV, XLS, and XLSX. If a rule file lacks these extensions, it can also be processed if the Content-Type indicates a supported format.

The Business Rule task evaluates business rules using a specified rule file. The file can be stored locally on the web, AWS S3, Azure Blob, or elsewhere. The task supports different execution strategies, cache timeout, input columns, and output columns. The rules can be configured to apply various logical operations such as comparison, string, list, and date operations.

Task parameters

Configure these parameters for the Business Rule task.

Parameter	Description	Required/ Optional
inputParameter.ruleFileLocation	URL of the spreadsheet to be evaluated, in CSV, XLS, or XLSX format. The file can be stored on the web, AWS S3, Azure Blob, etc. Note: A spreadsheet without an explicitly-defined .csv, .xls, or .xlsx extension can also be processed as long as its `Content-Type` indicates a supported format, such as a Google spreadsheet published to the web.	Required.
inputParameter.executionStrategy	Strategy for rule execution. Supported types: FIRE_FIRST—Uses the first rule that matches to generate the output. FIRE_ALL—Uses all matching rules to generate the output, with subsequent rules overwriting previous values. Note: When you update the rule for any files, there will be a default caching period of 60 mins, causing the updated rules to reflect with a delay of up to 60 mins.	Required.
inputParameter.cacheTimeoutMinutes Available since v5.2.1 and later v4.1.69 and later	The cache timeout, in minutes, which is the duration for which rule files are cached. If not configured, the task uses the default timeout of 60 minutes. Note: When multiple tasks access the same rule file, the timeout is determined by the first task that loads the file. Subsequent tasks use the same cached file until it expires. See an example of cacheTimeoutMinutes in use.	Optional.
inputParameter.inputColumns	The inputs to the rule file, which can be fixed or passed as a dynamic input. Supports string, number, boolean, null, and object/array.	Required.
inputParameter.outputColumns	List of columns that will be present in the task output.	Required.

The following are generic configuration parameters that can be applied to the task and are not specific to the Business Rule task.

Caching parameters

You can cache the task outputs using the following parameters. Refer to Caching Task Outputs for a full guide.

Parameter	Description	Required/ Optional
cacheConfig.ttlInSecond	The time to live in seconds, which is the duration for the output to be cached.	Required if using cacheConfig.
cacheConfig.key	The cache key is a unique identifier for the cached output and must be constructed exclusively from the task’s input parameters. It can be a string concatenation that contains the task’s input keys, such as `${uri}-${method}` or `re_${uri}_${method}`.	Required if using cacheConfig.

Schema parameters

You can enforce input/output validation for the task using the following parameters. Refer to Schema Validation for a full guide.

Parameter	Description	Required/ Optional
taskDefinition.enforceSchema	Whether to enforce schema validation for task inputs/outputs. Set to true to enable validation.	Optional.
taskDefinition.inputSchema	The name and type of the input schema to be associated with the task.	Required if enforceSchema is set to true.
taskDefinition.outputSchema	The name and type of the output schema to be associated with the task.	Required if enforceSchema is set to true.

Other generic parameters

Here are other parameters for configuring the task behavior.

Parameter	Description	Required/ Optional
optional	Whether the task is optional. The default is false. If set to true, the workflow continues to the next task even if this task is in progress or fails.	Optional.

Execution strategy

To understand the executionStrategy parameter, consider the following spreadsheet example:

Name	Price
Phone	10$
Phone	11$

If the input name is "Phone":

With FIRE_FIRST, the output price will be $10.
With FIRE_ALL, the output price will be $11, as the second rule overwrites the first.

Supported operators

The Business Rule task supports the following operators:

Operator type	Operator/Syntax	Description	Example
Comparison	`<=`, `>=`, `=`, `<`, `>`	Performs numerical comparison between values.	`price >= 100`
String	`=`	Exact string match comparison.	`name = John`
String	`!=`	String inequality comparison.	`name != John`
String	`startsWith` Available since v5.2.3 and later v4.1.72 and later	Checks if a string begins with a specified substring	`productName startsWith "iPhone"` matches "iPhone 14", "iPhone 14 Pro", etc.
String	`endsWith` Available since v5.2.3 and later v4.1.72 and later	Checks if a string ends with a specified substring.	`fileName endsWith ".pdf"` matches "document.pdf", "report.pdf", etc.
String	`contains` Available since v5.2.3 and later v4.1.72 and later	Checks if a string contains a specified substring anywhere in it.	`description contains "premium"` matches "premium quality", "our premium product", etc.
String	`matches` Available since v5.2.3 and later v4.1.72 and later	Performs pattern matching using a regular expression.	`email matches "^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$"` validates an email address format.
String	`length` Available since v5.2.3 and later v4.1.72 and later	Compares the length of a string with a numerical value.	`password length >= 8` ensures a password has at least eight characters.
List	`inList`	Checks if a value is in a specified list.	`productName inList({"phone","laptop"})` will match if productName is a phone or laptop.
List	`!=inList`	Checks if a value is not in a specified list.	`productName !=inList({"phone","laptop"})`
Others	`createList`	Generates a list with the specified elements.	`createList({"A","B","C"})` will generate a list `{"A", "B", "C"}` in output.

Task configuration

This is the task configuration for a Business Rule task.

{
  "name": "execute_rule",
  "taskReferenceName": "execute_rule_ref",
  "inputParameters": {
    "ruleFileLocation": "https://business-rules.s3.amazonaws.com/rules.xlsx",
    "executionStrategy": "FIRE_FIRST",
	  "cacheTimeoutMinutes":"30",
    "inputColumns": {
      "InputVariable1": "${workflow.input.InputVariable1}",
      "InputVariable2": "${workflow.input.InputVariable2}"
      },
    "outputColumns": [
        "OutputVariable1"
      ]
    },
  "type": "BUSINESS_RULE"
  }

Task output

The Business rule task will return the following parameters.

Parameter	Description
result	Contains the evaluated parameters based on the matching rule. The specific parameters inside the `result` object depend on the output columns specified in the task configuration.

Adding a Business Rule task in UI

To add a Business Rule task:

In your workflow, select the (+) icon and add a Business Rule task.
Enter the URL of the file in Rule file location.
Select the Execution strategy for evaluating the file.

FIRE_FIRST—Uses the first rule that matches to generate the output.
FIRE_ALL—Uses all matching rules to generate the output, with subsequent rules overwriting previous values.

Provide the Input columns and Output columns.

Adding Business Rule

Examples

Here are some examples for using the Business Rule task.

Using Business Rule task in a workflow

To illustrate the use of the Business Rule task in a workflow, consider the following rule file:

productType |   productCategory |   purchaseDate            |   itemCount   |   price   |   Discount    |   ShippingCharges
electronics |       cellphone   |   <=2022-04-22            |       8       |   != 100  |       11%     |       5$
electronics |       cellphone   |   <=2022-04-22            |       8       |   < 100   |       13%     |       15$
electronics |      laptop       |   > 2022-mar-12           |       >10     |   <10.2   |       5%      |       4$
beauty      |      powder       |   = 2022-01-01            |       >15     |   >=10.3  |       15%     |       2$
food        |      pizza        |   < 2022-03-22 12:20:22   |       25      |   >300    |       7%      |       10$

The workflow definition is as follows:

{
  "name": "TestRule",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "name": "rule",
      "taskReferenceName": "rule",
      "inputParameters": {
        "ruleFileLocation": "Product.xlsx",
        "executionStrategy": "FIRE_FIRST",
        "inputColumns": {
          "productType": "${workflow.input.productType}",
          "productCategory": "${workflow.input.productCategory}",
          "price": "${workflow.input.price}",
          "itemCount": "${workflow.input.itemCount}",
          "itemCode": "${workflow.input.itemCode}"
        },
        "outputColumns": ["Discount", "ShippingCharges"]
      },
      "type": "BUSINESS_RULE"
    }
  ]
}

Case 1

If the workflow is triggered using the following input:

{
  "productType": "electronics",
  "productCategory": "cellphone",
  "price": "5",
  "itemCount": "8",
  "purchaseDate": "2022-04-22"
}

To find the matching rule,

Explanation:

productType: Matches "electronics", which corresponds to rules defined for electronics in the rule file (rows 1, 2, and 3).
productCategory: Matches ``cellphone", narrowing down the applicable rules to those for electronics and cellphone (eliminating row 3).
purchaseDate: Matches "<=2022-04-22" (April 22, 2022 is on or before April 22, 2022), applying to rules (matching rows 1 and 2).
itemCount: Matches "8", which applies to rules requiring an itemCount of 8 (matching rows 1 and 2).
price: Matches "!= 100" (5 is not equal to 100), specifically matching rules where the price is not equal to 100. Also matches “<100” where 5 is less than 100 (matching rows 1 and 2).

With the FIRE_FIRST execution strategy, the first rule that matches the input will be evaluated. Therefore, even though both the first and second rules match, the first rule is chosen for execution.

Consequently, the output generated is:

{
  "Discount": "11%",
  "ShippingCharges": "5$"
}

Case 2

For a different case, if the workflow is triggered using the following input:

{
  "productType": "electronics",
  "productCategory": "laptop",
  "price": "10.0",
  "itemCount": "12",
  "purchaseDate": "2022-04-22"
}

To find the matching rule,

Explanation:

productType: Matches "electronics", which corresponds to rules defined for electronics in the rule file (rows 1, 2, and 3).
productCategory: Matches "laptop", narrowing down the applicable rules to those for electronics and laptops (eliminating rows outside this category).
purchaseDate: Matches "> 2022-mar-12" (The input purchase date April 22, 2022 is after March 12, 2022), applying to rules where the purchase date is after March 12, 2022.
price: Matches "<10.2" (10.0 is less than 10.2).
itemCount: Matches ">10" (12 is greater than 10).

Based on these conditions, the input meets the criteria defined by the third rule in the rule file (row 3). Therefore, the output generated is:

{
  "Discount": "5%",
  "ShippingCharges": "4$"
}

Case 3

When using FIRE_ALL as the execution strategy, with the same input as Case 1:

{
  "productType": "electronics",
  "productCategory": "cellphone",
  "price": "5",
  "itemCount": "8",
  "purchaseDate": "2022-04-22"
}

To find the matching rule,

Explanation:

productType: Matches "electronics", which corresponds to rules defined for electronics in the rule file (rows 1, 2, and 3).
productCategory: Matches ``cellphone", narrowing down the applicable rules to those for electronics and cellphone (eliminating row 3).
purchaseDate: Matches "<=2022-04-22" (April 22, 2022 is on or before April 22, 2022), applying to rules where the purchase date is on or before April 22, 2022 (matching rows 1 and 2).
itemCount: Matches "8", which applies to rules requiring an itemCount of 8 (matching rows 1 and 2).
price: Matches "!= 100" (5 is not equal to 100), specifically matching rules where the price is not equal to 100. Also matches “<100” where 5 is less than 100 (matching rows 1 and 2).

With the FIRE_ALL execution strategy, all rules that match the input will be evaluated. In this case, both the first and second rules match the input criteria. However, according to the FIRE_ALL strategy, subsequent rules can overwrite the output values of previous rules if they also match the input.

Therefore, even though both the first and second rules match, the second rule is chosen for execution.

Consequently, the output generated is:

{
  "Discount": "13%",
  "ShippingCharges": "5$"
}

Using cacheTimeoutMinutes

To illustrate the use of cacheTimeoutMinutes parameter, consider a rule file which is used by multiple Business Rule tasks.

In this example, the Business Rule tasks A, B, C, and D use the same rule file fileA.

When multiple Business Rule tasks use the same rule file, the cache timeout is determined by the first task that loads the file. All other tasks share that cached version until it expires, regardless of their own cacheTimeoutMinutes value.

For example:

At 10:00 AM, task A runs with cacheTimeoutMinutes set to 10. It downloads fileA and caches it for 10 minutes, until 10:10 AM.
At 10:05 AM, task B runs with cacheTimeoutMinutes set to 60. It uses the cached fileA.
At 10:08 AM, task C runs with cacheTimeoutMinutes set to 5 . It also uses the cached fileA.
At 10:10 AM, the cache expires.
At 10:15 AM, task D runs with cacheTimeoutMinutes set to 30. Because the previous cache has expired, it downloads fileA again and caches it for 30 minutes. Any task using this file within the next 30 minutes will use the cached version.

Task parameters​

Execution strategy​

Supported operators​​

Task configuration​

Task output​

Adding a Business Rule task in UI​

Examples​

Task parameters

Execution strategy

Supported operators

Task configuration

Task output

Adding a Business Rule task in UI

Examples