You can create as many rules as you need to assign templates to transactions. Each rule can be composed of one or more attribute matching criteria. You can specify that a bill must match at least one attribute criteria, or must match all criteria, in order to be displayed by the template associated with the rule.
You can create a rule for any enabled data source. You must select a supplementary data source or select None.
To create a new rule:
Enter the name, description, and supplementary data source.
Next, select the order the rule will be applied. You can create different rule order for online and printed bills.
Note: If you are adding the first rule for a data source, the Rule Order section will not be displayed.
Next, select matching criteria. See Selecting Attribute Matching Criteria.
Finally, assign a template to the rule. See Assigning a Template to Rule.
To change the order in which the rules are applied, see: Reordering Rules.
Suggestion: Create a default assignment rule for each supplementary data source that you use in BPA. Do not add any attributes to the rule. Assign a generic or default template to the rule. The default rule will apply when no other rules match.
Note: If you create a rule for supplementary data source None, then order it before the Default Rule. If the rule for the supplementary data source None follows the default rule, it will never be invoked to assign a template.
For a rule, you can set up matching criteria for one or more attributes. You can specify that all conditions of the rule must be met in order to assign a template to transactions or that the rule will assign a template if any condition is matched.
Attention: You must have designated content items to be used as assignment attributes in a previous step. See: Enabling Assignment Attributes.
Select an attribute from the Add Attribute list of values and click Go. BPA filters the list of available conditions for the selected attribute. Next, select the condition for the rule. For information about selecting matching conditions, see Selecting Conditions for Rules.
Then, add the attribute values for the rule. Depending on the type of attribute used in the rule, you can select a value from a poplist, use the flashlight to search for an attribute value, or enter a value. For attributes with numerical or date values, such as Billing Date or Outstanding Balance, enter a value.
When you set up the matching criteria for an attribute in a rule, you can select the condition for which a template is used to display or print bills. The condition must be met for a specified attribute that appears as a content item on your bills. The matching conditions available are:
Equals: Use this condition to match alpha or numeric values exactly, such as Operating Unit equals Vision Brazil.
Greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, and less than or equal to: Use these conditions to match numerical and date values, such as Total Amount greater than or equal to $2500.00 or Billing Date less than 1-MAY-2004. This condition can be used to match alpha values, but it is not recommended.
Starts with: Use this condition to match attributes that begin with the same value, so you don't have to create multiple rules using the equals condition. For example, if you bill several companies affiliated with Business Inc., you can set up a matching criteria, Customer Name like Business to assign the same template to all the related companies. BPA assigns the template for this rule to all customers starting with Business, such Business East, Business North, and Business West.
This condition cannot be used to match numerical values.
Contains: Use this condition to match attribute values that share a word or phrase. For example, if you want to assign a template to all customers with Business as part of the company name, you can set up a matching criteria, Customer Name contains Business. BPA assigns the template for this rule to all customers that have Business as part of the company name, such as Business World, World of Business, and International Business Corporation.
This condition can be used to match alpha values.