Rule Engine

This Node Is Deprecated — This version of the node has been replaced with a new and improved version. The old version is kept for backwards-compatibility, but for all new workflows we suggest to use the version linked below.
Go to Suggested ReplacementRule Engine
This node takes a list of user-defined rules and tries to match them to each row in the input table. If a rule matches, its outcome value is added into a new column. The rules follow a limited SQL-like syntax:
RULE := BEXPR '=>' STRING | NUMBER | COL
BEXPR := '(' BEXPR ')' |
         'NOT' BEXPR |
         'MISSING' COL |
         AEXPR (BINOP BEXPR)?
AEXPR := COL OP COL |
         NUMBER OP COL |
         COL OP NUMBER |
         STRING OP COL |
         COL OP STRING |
         COL LOP STRINGLIST
BOP := 'AND' | 'OR' | 'XOR'
OP := '>' | '<' | '>=' | '<=' | '=' | 'LIKE'
LOP := 'IN'
STRING := '"' [^"]* '"'
NUMBER := [1-9][0-9]*(\.[0-9]+)?
COL := '$' [^$]+ '$'
STRINGLIST := '(' STRING (',' STRING)* ')'

Rules consist of a condition part (antecedant), that must evaluate to true or false, and an outcome (consequent) that is put into the new column if the rule matches. The most simple rule is a comparison between a column and another column, a fixed number or string. The LIKE operator treats the fixed string as a wildcard pattern (with * and ?) as wildcards, the IN operator compares the column value to a list of strings and evaluates to true if at least one value in the list is equal to the column's value. Note that all operators are case-sensitive!

The outcome of a rule can either be a fixed string, a fixed number, or a reference to another column. The type of the outcome column is the common super type of all possible outcomes including the default label. If the outcome of a single rule or the default label is a reference to a column, please check the corresponding option below the text field.

Columns are given by their name surrounded by $, numbers are given in the usual decimal representation. Note that strings must not contain double-quotes.

Rules can (and should) be grouped with brackets because there is not pre-defined operator precedence for the boolean operators (comparison operators always take precedence over boolean operators).

Some example rules:

        $Col0$ > 5 => "Positive"
        $Col0$ = "Active" AND $Col1$" <= 5 => "Outlier"
        $Col0$ LIKE "Market Street*" AND 
            ($Col1 IN ("married", "divorced") 
                OR $Col2$ > 40) => "Strange"
        $Col0$ > 5 => $Col1$
        

Options

Columns
Available columns, which can be used as variables in a rule. Select one to add it to the rule editor field.
Operators
A list of valid operators. Select one to add it to the rule editor field.
Defaul label
This label is used if no rule matches.
Appended column name
Name of the newly appended column, which contains the outcome of the rules.
Enter rule...
The rule condition is created here. If a variable or an operator is selected it is inserted into the rule condition.
Outcome...
The text that should be appended if the rule matches.
Add
Click to save the rule.
Clear
Click to clear both fields, the rule editor and the outcome field.
Up
Click to move selected rule one up, as rules are evaluated from top to bottom, i.e. the outcome of the first rule that matches is used.
Down
Click to move selected rule one down, as rules are evaluated from top to bottom, i.e. the outcome of the first rule that matches is used.
Edit
Click to get the selected rule into the edit fields again.
Remove
Click to remove the selected rule.

Input Ports

Icon
Any datatable

Output Ports

Icon
The input table with an additional column containing the outcome of the matching rule for each row.

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