Understanding Rule Data Presets

You can configure SunSystems to 'insert' data, or force certain fields to take specific values whilst data is entered, by presetting those specific values in Rule Data Presets.

You can use Rule Data Presets to preset up to twenty fields during data entry. Each preset value can contain a maximum of fifteen characters. The preset values apply to a selected code combination within a Rule Data Set.

The Rule Data Preset only holds the specific value or values that you want to insert. The data item (that is, the field into which you wish to insert a value) is not identified in the Rule Data Preset. It must be specified in the SET command in a Rule Set.

Note:  Certain data items in each function cannot be changed or inserted with the SET command.

For example, you could create a Rule Data Preset that sets the Transaction Description on a journal line to Project A101-BF, whenever the Account Code is 11000, Ledger Analysis 1 is 11BLF and Ledger Analysis 3 is A101.

To achieve this you would need to define:

  • A Rule Data Set Key that identifies Account Code, Ledger Analysis 1 and Ledger Analysis 3 as the key fields.
  • A Rule Data Set that contains the following data item values and preset value for the transaction description:
  • Rule Data Set Code Account Code Analysis Code 1 Analysis Code 3 Preset Number Preset Value
    AC13 11000 11BLF A101 1 A101-BF
  • A Rule Set that contains the following action statement:
  • Command Value 1 Operator Value 2
    SET Transaction Description   Preset Value 1

Rule Data Presets form the bottom level in a hierarchy with Rule Data Sets and Rule Data Set Keys, as shown in Hierarchy of Rule Data.

Note: To decide whether or not to use Rule Data Presets, it may help to consider the following two scenarios:

  • 1. If you need to SET a certain field to a particular value in all circumstances, then you do not need to use a Rule Data Preset, because you can directly specify (or 'hard-code') your particular value in the Rule Set.

  • 2. If the value you need to preset depends on combinations of other data items entered, then you should use Rule Data Sets to define those combinations, and Rule Data Presets to define the consequential preset values, as shown in the above example.

Note:  Although a Rule Set can reference the valid code combinations that have been defined in more than one Rule Data Set, it can only use the preset values defined in one of these Rule Data Sets.