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An expression is a single text
element that when evaluated by Process Commander produces a
string value. Expressions in Process Commander look similar to
formulas in Microsoft Excel, but are based on Java language
conventions.
You can type in an expression, or (in many places) use the
Expression Builder tool to
guide you in entering an expression. Expressions may include
constants, property references, operators for arithmetic and
logical operations, parentheses to control the order of
evaluation, and functions.
Expressions can perform operations on data, including:
- Performing mathematical operations
- Comparing property values
- Manipulating text
- Transforming data
- Converting data types (casting)
Don't confuse
expressions — used in many situations — with
Declare Expression rules, which create expressions that
are evaluated automatically. Declare Expression rules contain
expressions, but so do many other rule types.
Expressions in rule forms
You can enter expressions in activity rules, models,
Constraints rules, and most other places that compute a value
at runtime.
In rule forms, the field where the expression appears
determines whether the expression is part of:
- The right-hand side of an assignment to a property
- The computation of a value
- A Boolean (or logical) expression (yielding a
true/false value)
- A property reference that may contain an expression as
a subscript
You can also use expressions in most fields that permit a
constant value. Similarly, you can use expressions to supply
the subscript value of a list or group element within a
property reference.
You cannot use expressions in fields that require property
references as the assignment destination. For example,
you cannot use an expression in the left column (target
property) of a model rule or the Property-Set method
parameter array.
Expressions in HTML and XML streams
Through the when JSP tag and Java scriptlets (or the when
directive and Java directive), you can include expressions in
HTML-based rules or XML Stream rules. You can use these in HTML
rules, XML Stream rules (Rule-Obj-XML rule type) and
correspondence rules (Rule-Obj-Corr rule
type).
Tools, accelerators, and
wizards
About
expressions
