Apply Rules

Applies one or more Data Rules to a document and updates the document metadata if changes are made.

Remarks

The ApplyRules activity performs rules-based manipulation and normalization of data extracted from documents, ensuring that extracted data meets business requirements before downstream processing.

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Purpose

• Use ApplyRules to apply a set of Data Rules to each document in a batch or folder.
• This activity is typically used after the Extract process to perform additional normalization, validation, or transformation of data.
• It helps keep extraction logic simple by separating data location (extraction) from data normalization and business rule enforcement.

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How it works

1. For each document, the activity determines the applicable Content Type.
2. The 'Rules' property specifies a list of Data Rules to consider.
3. Only rules that apply to the current content type are executed.
4. Each rule may perform actions such as parsing, copying, validating, or transforming field values using Data Actions.
5. If any rule raises issues (e.g., missing required values, validation errors), these can be flagged for review if 'FlagIssues' is enabled.
6. If any rule makes changes to the document data, the document metadata is updated and saved.

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When to use

• Use Apply Rules when you need to enforce business rules, normalize data, or perform post-extraction validation that is too complex or context-dependent for extractors alone.
• Common scenarios include splitting composite fields, enforcing required values, or applying conditional logic based on extracted data.

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Example

Suppose you extract a "Full Name" field but need to split it into "First Name", "Last Name", and "MI" for export:

• Use a Data Rule with a Parse Value action to split the full name after extraction.
• Add this rule to the 'Rules' property of ApplyRules.
• Run ApplyRules after extraction to populate the individual fields.

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Best Practices

• Keep extraction logic focused on locating data; use rules for normalization and validation.
• Group related rules together and use descriptive names for maintainability.
• Use 'FlagIssues' to ensure documents with data issues are flagged for human review.

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Related Concepts

• Data Rule: Defines the logic to be applied to document data.
• Data Action: The operation performed by each rule.
• Review, Export: Downstream activities that benefit from normalized and validated data.

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For more information, see the documentation for Data Rule, Data Action, and related data extraction and processing objects.

Properties

Name	Type		Description
General
Rules	Data Rule[]	►	The set of rules to apply to each document. EditorNodeListEditor(Of Data Rule) ConverterPg Ref Collection Converter Requiredtrue 'Rules' specifies the list of Data Rules that will be executed for each document processed by this activity. Each rule in this list is evaluated against the document's content type. Only rules that apply to the current content type will be executed. Rules can be used to normalize, validate, or transform extracted data after the Extract process. Tip: Use the property grid editor to select one or more rules from your data model.
Flag Issues	Boolean	►	If set to true, the folder will be flagged when the Raise Issue action is fired. DefaultFalse 'FlagIssues' controls whether the folder is flagged when any rule raises an issue during processing. When enabled, any issues raised by rules will cause the folder to be flagged with the issue messages. This can be used to highlight documents that require attention in downstream review or workflow steps. Tip: Enable this property to ensure that problematic documents are easily identified for follow-up.
Processing Options
Error Disposition	IssueDisposition	►	Controls how errors are handled when this activity encounters an exception during processing. ConverterPg Flags Converter DefaultFlag, Log A combination of the following flags: Name Value Description None 0 The issue will be ignored, and the item will complete successfully. Flag 1 The associated Batch Folder or Batch Page will be flagged. Log 2 The issue will be logged to the Grooper log. The log can be viewed from the Root - Events tab on the Design Page. Stop 4 The Batch will stop processing, be set to an error state, and all pending tasks will be deleted. The Error Disposition property determines the system's response to errors that occur while executing the activity. Flag: The affected Batch Folder or Batch Page will be flagged for review. Log: The error will be written to the Grooper event log. Stop: Processing will halt, the Batch will be set to an error state, and all pending tasks will be deleted. You can combine multiple options using the IssueDisposition flags. Adjust this property to match your organization's error handling and escalation policies.
Maximum Consecutive Errors	Int32	►	The maximum number of consecutive errors allowed before a critical stop is triggered. Default0 If the number of consecutive errors reaches this value, a critical stop will occur and the Activity Processing service will halt further processing. Use this property to prevent runaway failures and to ensure that persistent errors are escalated for review. Set to a higher value to allow more retries before stopping, or to a lower value for stricter error control.
Concurrency Mode	ConcurrencyMode	►	Specifies the parallel processing mode for this activity. DefaultMultiple Can be one of the following values: Name Value Description Multiple 0 Multiple instances can run concurrently. The Multiple mode allows any number of instances of the activity or queue to run in parallel. ► PerMachine 1 Only a single instance can run per machine. The PerMachine mode restricts execution to one instance per server or workstation. ► Single 2 Only a single instance can run per Grooper repository. The Single mode enforces exclusive execution across the entire repository. ► The Concurrency Mode property determines whether the activity can be executed in parallel across multiple Batch Objects, or if it must run sequentially. This setting affects which Processing Queue the activity is submitted to and how tasks are distributed. Choose the appropriate mode based on the activity's thread safety and resource requirements.

See Also

Data Rule

Used By

Batch Process StepProcessing JobBatch Object - Run ActivityExecute Activity