Formatting of attribute values

Attribute values throughout Oracle Policy Modeling and Oracle Policy Automation are either unformatted (ie using an internal data format), or formatted (ie using the format specified by the rulebase Region settings).

Unformatted attribute values

Unformatted attribute values are used:

In Oracle Policy Modeling itself, wherever data values are entered while creating the rulebase (eg default values on screen controls, maximum or minimum allowed values for variables, etc).
For any date, date/time or time values used when writing rules in Word or Excel (eg constants, values used in comparisons).
In the debugger and test case editor, where data values are entered directly (ie not using drop down lists or other pre-defined options for data entry) in the Data and Decision tabs.
In document templates using BI Publisher, to control the display of images and text.
For number variables flagged in the Attribute Editor as "Unformatted", where formatted values would normally be used when displaying those variable's values.

Unformatted values take the following forms:

Attribute type	Unformatted value form	Example
Boolean	true/false	true
Number	x.x (always has at least one decimal place)	3.0
Currency	x.x (always has at least one decimal place, no currency symbol, no comma)	5.0
Text	Any text (with the text surrounded by quotation marks where referenced in rules)	yellow
Date	yyyy-MM-dd	2007-10-25
Time of day	hh:mm:ss	07:47:31
Date and time	yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss	2009-08-12 17:30:00

Where the formatting of dates and times are referred to the following conventions are used:

yyyy	four-digit year
MM	two-digit month (01 through 12)
dd	two-digit day of month (0 through 31)
hh	two-digits of hour (00 through 23)
mm	two-digits of minute (00 through 59)
ss	two-digits of seconds (00 through 59)

Formatted attribute values

Formatted attribute values based on rulebase region are used:

In the debugger and the test case editor, when displaying data in the Decision tab and in the Text column of the Data tab.
For any number or currency values used when writing rules in Word or Excel (eg constants, values used in comparisons).
In Oracle Web Determinations, when entering and displaying data.
When displaying information in generated documents.

For example, if your region was set to the United States you would see the following:

Attribute type	Formatted value form (English - United States)	Example
Boolean	Yes/No/Unknown	Yes
Number	x	15
Currency	$x.xx (two decimal places)	$123.00
Text	Any text	submarine
Date	MM-dd-yy	6/17/11
Time of day	hh:mm:ss (24 hour clock)	15:21:45
Date and time	MM-dd-yy hh:mm:ss AM/PM (12 hour clock)	6/17/11 3:21:45 PM

Other examples of how this formatting could apply include:

Variable type	Data format specified by rulebase region	Example
Number	Region set to France, which includes the comma as the decimal separator	a Word rule conclusion setting a number variable: the threshold interest rate for savings accounts = 7,75
Currency	Region set to United Kingdom (English), which includes £ currency symbol, comma as thousand separator and full stop as decimal separator	the value for a currency variable "the balance of the applicant's savings account" is set in Oracle Web Determinations to: £25,524.50
Text	Region set to Germany, which accepts any text formatting	the value of a text variable "the person's name" is set in Oracle Web Determinations to: Karla
Date	Region set to Australia, which includes the date format dd/MM/yy	the value of a date variable "the applicant's date of birth" is displayed in the debugger Decision tab as: 25/10/90
Time of day	Region set to Brazil, which includes the time format hh:mm:ss NOTE: The seconds component is optional when entering data in Oracle Web Determinations and the debugger, and will be set to ":00" if omitted.	the value of a time variable "the weekday closing time" is set in Oracle Web Determinations to: 16:45
Date and time	Region set to Japan, which includes the date format yy/MM/dd and time format hh:mm:ss NOTES: If the regional format settings specify an output format for datetimes, all datetimes will be displayed with that format regardless of whether the 'Display seconds' option was ticked for that variable in the Attribute Editor. Also , the seconds component may be optional when entering data in Oracle Web Determinations and the debugger, depending on the regional format settings. If so, it is set to ":00" if omitted.	the value of a date/time variable "the application lodgment time" is set in Oracle Web Determinations to: 09/07/29 10:15:30

Where the formatting of dates and times are referred to the following conventions are used:

yy	two-digit year
MM	two-digit month (01 through 12)
dd	two-digit day of month (0 through 31)
hh	two-digits of hour (00 through 23)
mm	two-digits of minute (00 through 59)
ss	two-digits of seconds (00 through 59)

Note that to find the exact formatting of data values for your rulebase region, Oracle Policy Modeling will check the relevant settings for that region within your system. You may override these individual system settings for a region if required - see the Oracle Policy Automation Developer's Guide for further details.

TIP: When using BI Publisher to develop a template for an interview document, you can see the formatted and unformatted attribute values in the XML sample data file: