A Script With A Time Span Comparison
A script that is only eligible for senior citizens has the following eligibility rules:
Customer class = Residential
Birth date equates to that of a senior citizen
These rules require only one eligibility group on the script. It would look as follows:
Group No.
Group Description
If Group is True
If Group is False
1
Residential and Senior Citizen
Eligible
Ineligible
The following criteria will be required for this group:
Group 1: Residential, Calif, Senior
Seq
Field to Compare
Comparison Method
If True
If False
If Insufficient Data
10
Algorithm: retrieve account's customer class
= R
Check next condition
Group is false
Group is false
30
Person characteristic: Date of Birth
Algorithm: True if senior
Group is true
Group is false
Group is false
The first criterion is easy; it calls an algorithm that retrieves a field on the current account. This value, in turn, is compared to a given value. If the comparison results in a True value, the next condition is checked. If the comparison doesn't result in a True value, the Group is false (and, the group indicates that if the group is false, the script isn't eligible).
The last criterion contains a time span comparison. Time span comparisons are used to compare a date to something. In our example, we have to determine the age of the customer based on their birth date. If the resultant age is > 65, they are considered a senior citizen. To pull this off, you can take advantage of a comparison algorithm supplied with the base script as described below.
Field to Compare. The person characteristic in which the customer's birth date is held is selected.
Comparison Method. We chose a comparison algorithm that returns a value of True if the related field value (the customer's date of birth) is greater than 65 years (refer to SECC-TIMESPN for an example of this type of algorithm). Note that this time span algorithm can be used to compare days, weeks and months as well.
You'll notice that if a value of True is returned by the True if senior algorithm, the group is true (and we've set up the group to indicate a true group means the script is eligible).