13 Variable Announcement Rule Sets
The VARS tab is used to define the rules for a Variable Announcement Rule Set (VARS). VARS are used for announcements that vary depending on the grammatical rules of the language. Variable announcement rule sets allow these grammatical rules to be observed within the played announcement.
The VARS name (set name) is unique. It is used by the VARS Mapping tab to identify which VARS to map. Each rule is comprised of at least one or more expressions. Multiple expressions are concatenated with either a logical AND or logical OR.
Each expression conforms to the following syntax:
variablePart operator1 argument1 [operator2 argument2]
The syntax supports a maximum of five tokens. The last two tokens (operator2, argument2) are optional. These are only required depending on the operator1 operation. 'variablePart' represents one of the variable announcement parts.
A grouping policy can be optionally applied to each rule where the order of evaluation is important.
How VARS is Used in an Announcement Entry
The following example illustrates how a VARS is used in an announcement entry.
An announcement contains two placeholder parts:
"On date your balance is variable"
The variable part of the announcement will play a different audio file depending upon the number of free SMSs that the subscriber has remaining.
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0 free SMSs (rule 1)
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1 free SMs (rule 2)
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A pair of SMSs (rule 3)
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n free SMSs (rule 4)
The variable part is set up on the VARS tab as follows:
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Rule 1 is
IF [Part 2] = 0 -
Rule 2 is
IF [Part 2] = 1 -
Rule 3 is
IF [Part 2] = 2 -
Rule 4 is
IF [Part 2] > 2
Using the VARS Mapping tab, each rule is mapped to the resource name (that is, SRF) and resource ID of each audio file.
Using the Announcements tab, the VARS mapping is specified for an announcement entry.
Variable Announcement Rule Set Fields
This table describes the function of each field.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Add Rule | You can construct up to four parts to a rule using the operator fields. |
| Part | Select the part of the expression that the line applies to. |
| Comparison operators |
Select from: = equal to != not equal to > greater than < less than >= greater than or equal to <= less than or equal to % percentage + plus - minus * multiply / divide |
| Boolean operators |
Select from:
|
| Grouping Policy | Allows you to place brackets around the selected parts of the expression where the order of evaluation is important. |
| Existing Rules | Displays each rule and its boolean expression. |
Adding a VARS
Follow these steps to add a new VARS and add rules to the rule set.
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From the VARS tab, click New.
Result: The New Variable Announcement Rule Set screen is displayed. See Variable Announcement Rule Set Fields for a description of each field.
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In the Set Name field, enter the VARS name.
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In the Add Rule area, configure the new rule by constructing the boolean expression.
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Click Add.
The new rule will be added to the VARS and will be displayed in the Existing Rules table.
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Click Save to save the changes to the database.
Related topic
Editing a VARS
Follow these steps to edit an existing VARS.
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On the VARS tab, select the VARS to edit.
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Click Edit.
Result: The Edit Variable Announcement Rule Set screen is displayed. See Variable Announcement Rule Set Fields for a description of each field.
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Make the changes required.
To add a rule, follow the procedure described in Adding a VARS.
To remove a rule, select it in the Existing Rules table and click Remove.
To change a rule:
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Select the rule in the table.
Result: The details will be displayed in the Add Rule area.
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Change the rule details and click Update.
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Click Save to save the changes to the database.
Related topic