Improvise a Calendar Feature

A user may need to identify exceptions to normal processing. For example, suppose a bank holiday falls on a Monday, a day on which processing typically occurs. Or suppose that the processing for a particular day differs from the normal processing. You need to be able to identify exceptional days on which processing either differs or does not take place at all.

This topic uses standard and conditional rules to simulate a calendar feature.

A standard rule compares item values to determine if they are in or out of balance. An inactive standard rule is evaluated only within a conditional rule. A conditional rule uses IF/THEN logic to determine whether a condition is true or false. An active conditional rule can activate an inactive standard rule.

Problem

Your company processes approximately the same number of transactions each weekday, except for the day that monthly paychecks are distributed. On that day, the number of transactions jumps dramatically, so you want to run your rules with a higher tolerance level.

You have a job in ACR/Summary that runs on weekdays. The job is defined with a 15% tolerance. On the Monday following the third Friday of each month, you want to run an alternate rule, with a 20% tolerance.

Solution

The resolution is to set up a job that applies an alternate rule on the Monday following the third Friday of each month. The Monday following the third Friday of the month will fall between the 18th and the 24th of the month.

Follow the steps below :

1 ) In ACR/Summary, set up three calculated items :

- For C-001, use the @DATE function to obtain today’s date.
- For C-002, use the @DAY function, with the previous calculation, to separate out the day of the month, that is, the 1st through the 31st.
- For C-003, use the @DAYOFWEEK function to determine if the day is a Monday.

2 ) Define an inactive standard rule, R-001, with a 15% tolerance, for use on normal processing days.

3 ) Define a second inactive standard rule, R-002, with a 20% tolerance, for use on the Monday after the third Friday of each month.

4 ) Define a third inactive rule, R-003, to determine if the value of Calculation 2 is greater than or equal to 18.

C-002 ≥ 18

5 ) Define a fourth inactive rule, R-004, to determine if the value of Calculation 2 is less than or equal to 24.

C-002 ≤ 24

6 ) Define a fifth inactive rule, R-005, to determine if the value of Calculation 3 is 1.

C-003 = 1

7 ) Define an active conditional rule, R-006, to determine if R-003, R-004, and R-005 are in balance. If Yes, activate R-002. If No, activate R-001.