Rule engine

Use Rule Engine to define complex rules, such as survey targeting. Rules can be used in multiple places in Digital, for example Real-Time Alert actions or Form Invitation Targeting.

Open Rule Engine under Automation in the Digital Command Center. The panel on the left shows the list of current rules. The action bar contains buttons to configure rules.

The list of rules, currently nothing selected.

Select a rule in the Rules list in the left panel. The configuration section of the screen shows the configuration of the current rule.

If the currently selected rule is not in use in any forms, you can edit the rule.

An unused rule that can be edited.

Edit the rule configuration using the dropdown options, usually starting at the left and working to the right. The Rule Syntax shows an alternative representation of what is selected in the dropdown menus and can be used to troubleshoot the rule. It is not possible to edit the rule using the syntax.

When the rule is in use in a form, the configuration of the rule is shown but you cannot edit or delete it.

A rule that is in use and that cannot be edited.

To edit the rule, first you . Alternatively, duplicate the rule by clicking Copy Rule and then modify the copy.

Action bar

Use the buttons in the Action Bar to:

  • Add Rule: Creates a new rule. Type a new name in the dialog and click Save.

    Adding a rule requires a name.

  • Delete Rule: Removes the currently selected rule. If a rule is associated with a survey, for example as part of Targeting, you cannot delete it without first removing the association.

  • Copy Rule: Copies the currently selected rule. Enter a new unique name for the rule.

  • Save: Active once a rule has been edited, click to make the changes permanent. If there are unsaved changes and you click another rule to leave the editor, the confirmation dialog opens.

    Confirmation of unsaved changes to a rule.

    To save your changes, first click Cancel and use the Save button in the action bar. If you want to discard your changes, click Select Rule. Your changes are permanently discarded.

Rule configuration

A rule is a group of conditions that has to evaluate to true for the rule to operate. Each rule must have a unique rule name. Every condition contains:

Rule Configuration pane.

  1. Survey Name: Name of the survey form to use for the condition. Use the search to narrow down the list.

  2. Field Name: Name of the field against which to match. The list consists of all of the custom parameters available on the property, and the user data collected by Digital. This field is mandatory unless you set Form Name to All Forms.

  3. Condition: Operation to perform on the field. The operation depends on the type of field you select.

  4. Value: Value which is compared to the input in the field.

Multiple conditions can be evaluated together using logical operators such as AND and OR, which allows for the creation of simple or complex rules to fit every scenario. To choose the relationship between conditions on the same level (in the same group), use the AND/OR dropdown to select the relationship.

  1. Add a condition on the same level in the same group

  2. Add a sub-group of conditions in the current group

  3. Delete condition

  4. Delete sub-group

Tip: To create a catch-all rule that forwards all incoming feedback, create a rule with a single condition where Form Name = 'All Forms' and leave all other fields empty.

Rule examples

To gain a better understanding of rules, consider these examples.

URL example one

Often rules are used with metadata based targeting, for example to avoid triggering an invite on a page. If you use multiple rules to achieve this on a group of subdomains, exactly which operator you use to combine the group of subrules is very important. Remember that logic OR does not follow the common usage of A or B. If you combine a list of URLs, such as:

  • domainA.example.com
  • domainB.example.com
  • domainC.example.com

using the OR operator it means that as soon as any of the subrules evalutes as true, the rest of the rules are not evaluated. In this case it is necessary to use the AND operator, which means that you do not want to trigger on the combination of all of the subrules.