Expressions List
You can use a variety of functions that can be used when writing an expression to compare or transform data during the processing of a rule.
The following functions are currently supported within an expression:
Comparison functions
Comparing data
These will compare one instance to another and will evaluate to either True or False.
These operators are not available for all data types. The table below shows what operators can be used with what data. Operators support either a symbol representation (e.g. =) or a natural language equivalent. For comparing dates, see the date functions.
=
equals
is equal to
!=
does not equal
is not equal to
>
gt
greater than
is greater than
>=
gte
greater than or equal to
is greater than or equal to
<
lt
less than
is less than
<=
lte
less than or equal to
is less than or equal to
isSubset (see below for details)
Comparing lists
These will compare one list of instances against another list and evaluate to either True or False.
isSubset
The isSubset function enables you to confirm whether items in one list are present in another.
For example, you could check that the skills required for a job role is a subset of the skills listed for a candidate.
To do this, the function needs to be told where to gather this data from. This is done by specifying which two relationships contain this information and which side of the relationship (the subject or object) will be compared. These relationships should be plural. Using the example above, we might have a rule that looks like this:
Rule: Candidate (%S) > is suitable for > Job role (%O)
Expression: isSubset(%O, has essential skills, *, %S meets, *)
At runtime, if we had a candidate of Simone and the rule was processing a job role of Retail Financial Advisor, the expression would do the following to determine that the 1st list is a subset of the 2nd list and return True from the expression.
%O = Retail Financial Advisor
%S = Candidate
Retail Financial Advisor > has essential skills > *
(* denotes all)
Simone > meets > *
The engine gathers all facts for Retail Financial Advisor > has essential skills > * and compiles a list from the objects. Shown below.
The engine gathers all facts for Simone > meets > * and compiles a list from the objects. Shown below.
1st list
2nd list
Banking experience
Banking experience
Degree qualified
Multi-lingual
3 x A-levels
Degree qualified
Driving license
Driving license
3 x A-levels
Knowledge of current finance products
Follow our Academy course on comparative expressions for detailed examples and how you can combine multiple comparative expressions.
Mathematical functions
The following mathematical functions are available to use with number concepts only.
Data type of output: number
Add
+ Add two numbers together
10 + 5 = 15
Subtract
- Subtract one number from another
2 - 1 = 1
Divide
/ Divide one number by another
6 / 2 = 3
Multiply
* Multiple one number by another
4 * 2 = 8
Round
round(%X, %Y) Round X to the nearest integer. You can specify Y to round to Y number of places. If Y is not specified, 0 is assumed.
round(123.4) = 123 or round(123.4567,2) = 123.46
Ceiling
ceil(%X) Round X towards plus infinity
ceil(4.2) = 5 ceil(-4.2) = -4
Floor
floor(%X) Round X towards minus infinity
floor(4.2) = 4 floor(-4.2) = -5
Absolute
abs(%X) Calculate the absolute value of X
abs(4.2) = 4.2 abs(-4.2) = 4.2
Minimum
min(%A,%B,%C...) Calculate the minimum value in a set of values
min(6,4,2,15,11) = 2
Maximum
max(%A,%B,%C...) Calculate the maximum value in a set of values
max(6,4,2,15,11) = 15
Modulus
mod(%X,%Y) Calculate the modulus (the remainder of an integer division) of X/Y
mod(5,2) = 1
Power
pow(%X,%Y) Calculate the power of X to Y (X^Y)
pow(10,3) = 1000
Square root
sqrt(%X) Calculate the square root of X
sqrt(64) = 8
Factorial
factorial(%X) Calculate the factorial of X
factorial(4) = 24
Tangent
tan(%X) Calculate the tangent of X
tan(45) = 1.61978
Cosecant
csc(%X) Calculate the cosecant of X
csc(30) = 1.01211
Cotangent
cot(%X) Calculate the cotangent of X
cot(80) = 0.11107
Secant
sec(%X) Calculate the secant of X
sec(60) = -1.04996
Mathematical functions can be combined using brackets.
Mathematical functions can be combined using brackets. Where mathematical calculations are being performed you should observe correct usage of brackets, otherwise the calculation will be read left to right.
Date functions
Use within an expression to compare or transform dates.
These functions allow you to:
Retrieve the current date/time
Get an index for a given date
Add or subtract from a date
Calculate the difference between dates
Compare two dates to determine if one is in the past, present or future from the other
Inputs to these functions must come from a concept set to a date type. An error will be displayed if you try to use these on data that is from a string, number or truth concept.
Date/time format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
These functions may output timestamps, dates, numbers or true/false. The output data type will be mentioned for each function.
Retrieve the current date/time
Functions to get the current date or date/time to use within other functions. For example to work out a person's age you can write an expression to calculate the number of years between a persons date-of-birth and today's date.
Data type of output: date/time
Today
today() Current date at the point the function is executed during a query. The time will default to midnight.
today() = 1703203200000 (translates to 2023-12-22 00:00:00)
Now
now() Current date and time at the point the function is executed during a query.
now() = 1703249564941 (translates to 2023-12-22 12:52:44)
These functions will output a unix timestamp, which is a machine readable datetime format. Mostly you will not see these timestamps. However, if you do come across them during building and want to see it in a human-friendly format there’s many websites you can use to convert them such as epoch converter.
Get an index for a given date
Functions that take a date and return an index (number) based on the chosen function.
Data type of output: number
Day of week
dayOfWeek(%date) Returns the nth day of the week for a given date (a number from 1 to 7 where Monday = 1 and Sunday -= 7)
dayOfWeek(2023-12-22) = 5 (it's a Friday)
Day of month
dayOfMonth(%date) Returns the nth day of the month for a given date
dayOfMonth(2023-12-22) = 22
Day of year
dayOfYear(%date) Returns the nth day of the year for a given date
dayOfYear(2023-12-22) = 356
Month of year
monthOfYear(%date) Returns the nth month of the year for a given date (a number between 1-12)
monthOfYear(2023-12-22) = 12
Year
year(%date) Returns the year of a given date
year(2023-12-22) = 2023
Add or subtract from a date
Add or remove a number of days, weeks, months or years from a date to create a new date.
This function requires you to pass in a date followed by a number you want to add. e.g. addDays(2023-12-22, 3) = 2023-12-25.
To subtract from a date you can use a negative number. e.g. addDays(2023-12-22, -3) = 2023-12-19
These examples use static data, but both arguments of this function can be dynamic by using variables, so long as the data used is of the correct type. E.g. addDays(%date, %number).
Data type of output: date/time
Add days
addDays(%date, n) Add n number of days to a given date.
addDays(2023-12-22, 3) =
1703462400000 (converts to 2023-12-25)
Add weeks
addWeeks(%date, n) Add n number of weeks to a given date.
addWeeks(2023-12-22, 3) = 1705017600000 (converts to 2024-01-12)
Add months
addMonths(%date, n) Add n number of months to a given date.
addMonths(2023-12-22), 3) = 1711065600000 (converts to 2024-03-22)
Add years
addYears(%date, n) Add n number of years
addYears(2023-12-222, 3) = 1797897600000 (converts to 2026-12-22)
These functions output a timestamp. If the output of this function is assigned to the object of the rule (%O) then the object should be a date type. If the object is a number, the timestamp will be displayed in the result and/or the evidence.
Calculate the difference between dates
Returns the difference between two dates as a number.
This function requires you to pass in two dates. Regardless of the order, it will always output a positive number.
Data type of output: number
Seconds between
secondsBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of seconds between two date/times.
secondsBetween(2023-12-22 12:30:10, 2023-12-22 12:30:12) = 2
Minutes between
minutesBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of minutes between two date/times.
minutesBetween(2023-12-22 12:30:10, 2023-12-22 12:40:12) = 10
Hours between
hoursBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of hours between two dates/times.
hoursBetween(2023-12-22 12:30:10, 2023-12-22 14:30:12) = 2
Days between
daysBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of days between two date/times.
daysBetween(2023-12-18 12:30:10, 2023-12-22 12:30:12) = 4
Weeks between
weeksBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of weeksonds between two date/times.
weeksBetween(2023-11-20 12:30:10, 2023-12-22 12:30:12) = 4
Months between
monthsBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of months between two date/times.
monthsBetween(2023-10-22 12:30:10, 2023-12-22 12:30:12) = 2
Years between
yearsBetween(%date1, %date2) The number of years between two date/times.
yearsBetween(2023-12-22 12:30:10, 2025-07-18 12:30:12) = 1
Comparing dates
Pass two dates into the function to check if one is in the past, present or future from the other.
These functions will check the dates and evaluate to true or false for the expression to either pass or fail.
Data type of output: True/false
Is before date
isBeforeDate(%date1, %date2) Checks if date 1 is before date 2 and returns true or false
isBeforeDate(2023-12-21, 2023-12-22) = true
Is same date
isSameDate(%date1, %date2) Checks if date 1 is the same as date 2 and returns true or false
isSameDate(2023-12-21, 2023-12-22) = false
Is after date
isAfterDate(%date1, %date2) Checks if date 1 is after date 2 and returns true or false
isAfterDate(2023-12-21, 2023-12-22) = false
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