Expressions List

You can use a variety of functions 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.

Data type of output: Boolean (true/false)

Operator (and aliases)	String (text)	Number	Date	Truth
= 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

Follow our Academy course on comparative expressions for detailed examples and how you can combine multiple comparative expressions.

String functions

includes

Confirm a string contains a set of characters. Partial matching enables you to check the presence of a word or set of characters to infer facts.

Data type of output: Boolean (true/false)

Example

includes(%COMPANY_NAME, ‘LTD’)

In this example you could infer a company is Public Limited Company by checking if a company name contains 'LTD' in the name. E.g. given a company name of Rainbird Technologies LTD the function will evaluate to true.

Matching is case sensitive and will include whitespace before, within and after the search string.

E.g. Given a search string of ' Ltd' a company name of Rainbird Technologies LTD (uppercase) or Rainbird TechnologiesLtd (no whitespace before) would evaluate to false.

To check the absence of a set of characters, = false can be added to the end of the expression.

e.g. includes(%EMAIL_ADDRESS, '@rainbird.ai') = false can determine a person is not an internal user when the email does not contain the company name.

String Concatenation

Join values together into a single output using the + operator. Concatenation enables you to combine variables with text strings to create dynamic output.

Data type of output: String

Example %FIRST_NAME + ' ' + %LAST_NAME

In this example you could create a full name by joining the first and last name with a space in between. E.g. given a first name of John and a last name of Smith the expression will evaluate to John Smith.

Concatenation can join any number of strings and variables together. E.g. 'Claim ' + %CLAIM_ID + ' has been ' + %APPROVAL_STATUS + ' with a payout amount of £' + %PAYOUT_AMOUNT could produce Claim CL-8932 has been APPROVED with a payout amount of £5,750.

Dates, numbers and truth types will automatically convert to strings. Dates will display as a timestamp.

---

Mathematical functions

The following mathematical functions are available to use with number concepts only.

Data type of output: number

Function name	Description	Example
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:

1. Retrieve the current date/time

2. Get an index for a given date

3. Add or subtract from a date

4. Calculate the difference between dates

5. 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 format: YYYY-MM-DD

• 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 person's date-of-birth and today's date.

Data type of output: date/time

Function name	Description	Example
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

Function name	Description	Example
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

Function name	Description	Example
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

Function name	Description	Example
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: Boolean (true/false)

Function name	Description	Example
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

List functions

Performs comparisons or transformations over a list of facts.

countRelationshipInstances

Count how many facts exist for a given relationship. This enables you to determine the number of relationships a specific entity has.

Data type of output: Number

Example 1

countRelationshipInstances(%ACCOUNT_ID, 'has account flags', *)

In this example %ACCOUNT_ID denotes a variable where an account identifier is used to constrain the function to consider only that account. The asterisk * denotes all objects.

This will return the number of account flags associated with the given account. For example, if account "ACC-7823" has three flags ("Suspicious activity", "High risk", "Manual review"), the function will evaluate to 3.

Example 2

countRelationshipInstances(*, 'has account flags', *)

In this example, the first asterisk * denotes all subjects (all accounts), and the second asterisk * denotes all objects (all flags).

This will return the total number of account flags across all accounts in the session. For example, if account "ACC-7823" has three flags ("Suspicious activity", "High risk", "Manual review"), account "ACC-4519" has two flags ("Dormant", "Foreign national"), and account "ACC-9032" has one flag ("Politically exposed"), the function will evaluate to 6.

sumObjects

Adds all number objects from a list and returns the total, when they share the same relationship.

Data type of output: number

Example 1

sumObjects(%COMPANY, ‘has employee salaries’, *)

In this example %COMPANY denotes a variable where a company name is used to constrain the function to consider only facts for that company. The asterisk * denotes all objects.

This will return a sum of all employee salaries for the given company.

Note: the relationship in this example must be plural

Example 2

sumObjects(*, ‘has employee salaries’, *)

In this example the subject is not being constrained to a single company as the asterisk * to denote all is also being used for the subject.

This will return a sum of all employee salaries for all companies.

Note: the relationship in this example can be singular or plural

minObjects

Returns the lowest value from a list of objects.

Supports finding the lowest number or earliest date.

Data type of output: date or number (depending on the input data type)

Example 1

minObjects(%COMPANY, ‘has employee salaries’, *)

In this example %COMPANY denotes a variable where a company name is used to constrain the function to consider only that company. The asterisk * denotes all objects.

This will return the lowest salary for the given company.

Note: the relationship in this example must be plural

Example 2

minObjects(*, ‘has employee salaries’, *)

In this example the subject is not being constrained to a single company as the asterisk * to denote all is also being used for the subject.

This will return the lowest salary for all companies.

Note: the relationship in this example can be singular or plural

maxObjects

Returns the highest value from a list of objects.

Supports finding the highest number or latest date.

Data type of output: date or number (depending on the input data type)

Example 1

maxObjects(%COMPANY, ‘has employee salaries’, *)

In this example %COMPANY denotes a variable where a company name is used to constrain the function to consider only that company. The asterisk * denotes all objects.

This will return the highest salary for the given company.

Note: the relationship in this example must be plural

Example 2

maxObjects(*, ‘has employee salaries’, *)

In this example the subject is not being constrained to a single company as the asterisk * to denote all is also being used for the subject.

This will return the highest salary for all companies.

Note: the relationship in this example can be singular or plural

isSubset

Compares one list of instances against another list and returns either True or False if the items in the 1st list are present in the 2nd list.

Data type of output: Boolean (true/false)

Example of isSubset

This function could be used to check that the essential 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, 'requires essential skills', *, %S, 'has skills', *)

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, confirming the candidate possesses the essential skills for the role and returning true from the expression.

1. Generate 1st list	2. Generate 2nd list
%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

Logical Operators (and / or)

Combine multiple conditions within expressions to create more complex logic. Logical operators enable you to evaluate whether multiple conditions are true or whether at least one condition is true.

Operators available:

• and: All conditions must be true for the expression to evaluate to true

• or: At least one condition must be true for the expression to evaluate to true

Examples

(includes(%POLICY_TYPE, 'Auto')) and (%CLAIM_AMOUNT > 5000)

This example evaluates to true only when both conditions are met: the policy type contains "Auto" AND the claim amount exceeds £5,000.

(%RISK_SCORE > 80) or (includes(%CLIENT_STATUS, 'VIP'))

This example evaluates to true when either condition is met: the risk score is above 80 OR the client has VIP status.

Logical operators can be combined to create more complex conditions:

((%AGE < 25) or (%DRIVING_YEARS < 3)) and (%ACCIDENT_COUNT > 0)

This will evaluate to true when either the client is under 25 OR has less than 3 years of driving experience, AND they have had at least one accident.

Truth table for logical operators

Condition 1	Condition 2	1 AND 2	1 OR 2
true	true	true	true
true	false	false	true
false	true	false	true
false	false	false	false

1. Use parentheses to control the order of evaluation when combining multiple logical operators.

2. and / or must be lowercase