Equation / Criteria building in IDEA - Tips and Hints Part 2

Hello Group,

 

Continuing with my post from yesterday we now look at tips and hints for simple Date and Character field equation building.

 

We learnt yesterday that a simple condition in IDEA has a Field, Arithmetical Operator and String (Date or Character)

 

So if I would like to observe all Contracts where the Due Date for Renewal has lapsed versus a given date the equation can be written as -

 

Contract Renewal Date < "20180601"

 

meaning contracts where the renewal date has expired or less than 1st June 2018

 

Here Contract Renewal Date is the Field

 

< is the Arithmetical Operator

 

20180601 is the Date String. 

 

Always remember Date Strings in IDEA are to be written as YYYYMMDD encapsulated in ""

 

Similarly if you would like to filter on records containing Journal Entries in a Day Book your equation can be written as -

 

Document Type == "JV"

 

Here Document Type is the Field

 

== Arithmetical Operator

 

JV is the Character String

 

Now when it comes to conditions with Character fields make sure you are entering the Character String correctly as it appears in the IDEA file. If the IDEA file contains JV please enter JV. If it contains jv enter jv. A simple condition like Document Type == "JV" is case sensitive. So do use it carefully. The Equation Validator will only test the syntax on the Field Name with the consistency of the Field Name and String. It won't test the Character String for its accuracy.

 

The == arithmetical operator in the equation above stands for exactly equal to and is useful for character field expressions.

 

Tomorrow we look at using Logical Operators like .AND. .OR. .NOT. with the conditions we learnt in Part 1 and Part 2 of the posts over the last two dates.

 

Regards

 

Group Admin Team