Data Management Rules

Management Rules

Introduction

Defining rules is the first step in defining data life cycles.
Rules are used to define the criteria for the periods and actions that will be evaluated on the data collected.
Each rule created can be assigned to one or more logical sets called ‘Strategies’.
This process is used to define data life cycles.
To define rules, you must have a role with administrative privileges for the Zetaly solution or data administration.

The rules are based on two parameters that define when and what to do.

The ‘When’ condition is determined by the ‘Older Than’ parameter.
It is used to specify the age condition the data must have to apply the defined action (What).
The value of the ‘Older Than’ parameter is expressed as a period of time, which can range from a few minutes to a few years.
This evaluation is based on a designated field ( being a Date or DateTime field type) in the dataset when a strategy is associated (see Strategy association).
Basically: " If the data is older than the condition, then execute the defined action."

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The ‘What' to do’ condition is determined by the ‘Action’ parameter. It defines the type of action to be performed on the data when the 'Older Than' parameter is true.
This parameter accepts two values :

• Aggregate
• Delete

Best practice: Before defining rules, define or familiarise yourself with the company's data management policy.

Displaying rules

From the main menu of the Zetaly solution, select ‘Data Enrich’ ,‘Data Management’ then ‘Rules Management’ .
A table of available rules is displayed. Define rules number is display on top left of the table.

Note : To show or hide a table column, click the icon at the top right of the table.

Creating rules

Rules can be defined at any time.
When saving the definition of a new rule, the product checks that no similar rule exists. This avoids the creation of multiple rules with the same scope of application.

From Rule table page, click the ‘Create Rule’ button.

The rule creation dialog box opens, allowing you to define the expected parameters for a new rule.  

This dialog box has two tabs

• Settings: Used to define the rule parameters.
• Tags: Used to add user business information.

Defining Rule parameter

Select the ‘Settings’ tab in the rules dialogue box then enter expected values..

Label:
String of up to 25 characters. Defines the desired name for this rule.

Best practice: The label of the rule has a direct relationship with the period and the action taken.

Older Than :
Period of time at which the action defined in the rule must be performed.
This parameter is made up of 2 fields used to define the value and unit of the period to be evaluated.

• Value :
  • Free integer number.
• Period
  • minutes,  Hours, Days, Months, Years

Notes on period units :

• Month : Always represents 30 Days. This is a notion of period, not of calendar months (30 Days = 0.9856 Months on average).
• Year    : Systematically represents a period of 365 days.

Action:
Type of action to be taken when the ‘Older Than’ condition is true.
2 possible values:

• Aggregate : 
  • When this option is specified, a list of choices is displayed to select the level of data aggregation.
    • minutes, 10mn, 30mn, Hourly, Daily, Monthly, Yearly
• Delete :
  • When this option is specified, the data is deleted.No more information is required.

Once all the parameters have been defined, the rule can be saved.
It is automatically added to the list of existing rules, forming a repository of rules available for creating Strategies.

Updating Rule

The functional parameters of a rule can only be modified if it is not associated with an active Strategy.
In this case, only the rule business information can be changed.

To modify a rule, click the ‘Edit’ option in the menu to the right of the table for the chosen rule.

Enter your modification Then save the rule.

Deleting a rule

A rule is associated with a strategy cannot be deleted.

Select ‘Delete’ from the menu on the right of the table.
And Confirm the deletion

Exporting  rules

All defined rules can be exported, whether or not they are part of a strategy.
Export can be performed for several rules or individually.

Multiple export :

To export several rules, select the desired rules from the rules table.
For each rule, tick the box allowing selection (1).
Click the 'Export' button located on the top of interface (2).

Export is then made into a file in JSON format. .
This file can then be used to import definitions in the event of unintentional deletion of existing rules or to load them into another Zetaly? environment.

Single export :

A single export can be done directly from the rules table.
From the menu on the right of the table select the ‘Export’ option for the expected rule.

The rule is exported to a JSON format file which can then be imported again in the event of unintentional deletion or for import into another Zetaly environment.

Importing rules

To import rule(s), click the 'Import' button located on the top of interface.

During the import process, the product checks whether any rules already exist (duplication).
If this is the case, the duplicated rule(s) will not be imported and an information message will be sent.
The duplication check is not based on the label assigned to the rule but on the functional code associated with it.
The functional code is generated by the product. It is based on the ‘Older Than’ condition and the action (see Rules Code for more information)

Add Tags

For each existing rule, business information can be added to enhance the information linked to this definition.
This business information can be modified at any time.

To Add 'Tags'  for an existing rule you must first edit the rule (see Updating a rule)

From the dialogue box, select the ‘TAG’ tab. If tags are already defined, they are displayed.
You can select one of the existing tags or create a new one.

For more information on Tags, see the Tags Management page.

Rules status

When a rule is added to a strategy, it naturally becomes active.
During its activity, a rule can have different states. The table below contains information about these states

The status of a rule can be viewed directly from the dataset list, in which case the status is the worst case condition that is displayed if there is an error.
Detail by rule is obtained by selecting a dataset to access its details.
The view then displays all Child Datasets (data from an aggregation linked to a strategy rule) and the status of the corresponding rule for each Child-Dataset. 

Rules Code

A code is assigned to each rule defined. This code is based on the ‘Older Than’ condition and the operation to be performed.
This code is generated automatically by the product and cannot be modified. It is made up of two parts separated by a hyphen.
The code is unique in the solution. You cannot define 2 rules with the same condition Older than and the same action.
The first part corresponds to the ‘Older Than’ condition.
The second part between brackets corresponds to the action.

Ex.

1D-[AGR/D] = Older Than 1 Day-[ AgGRegate / per Day ]
2M-[DEL] = Older Than 2 Months-[ DELete]