December 7, 2022 8:45 pm

One of the secrets behind the ultra-flexibility of Intellimas is our scripting engine. When we first built the software, we knew it had a great grid UI (and we have since added form views), but we had to determine how our clients would need to process data. We knew they would need calculation capabilities, but in order to be as flexible as possible, how would we support functions such as:

1. Validations for mandatory fields
2. Querying other data sources based on various conditions
3. Giving warnings to end users for certain conditions
4. All kinds of conditional logic
5. Rolling up values to upper levels with conditional logic
6. Transforming data
7. Workflow automation
8. Pushing data from one level of the entity to another, or to/from subentities or to/from other entities

Coding for all possible business logic in processes across many different industries was an impossible task. Therefore we added scripting to accompany our entity configuration engine. The scripting can be done in Visual Basic or C# and it has access to all fields at all levels. It has the power of code because, well, it is code.

However, we have seen over and over again that end user flexibility equals back end complexity.  Scripting can be complicated.  You can copy someone else’s script or one of our templates, but then you may run into undesired outcomes, syntax errors or other issues when you modify the code to your needs.  Of course you can always ask one of your developers for help, but they are usually in high demand.

As a result of this, we have created a function in Intellimas that allows non-programmers to configure calculations and other business logic with simple statements or expressions.  This new feature is called, wait for it… Expressions!  Here are the major features of Expressions:

1. Calculations with the usual operators (+, – , *, /, parenthesis) and more
2. Expressions can access all fields from all entity levels
3. Roll up values from lower levels with a simple sum
4. “If-Then-Else” statements for conditional logic
5. Set up warning or regular validations
6. Can be used in conjunction with the after-update script if needed

Expressions cannot handle everything that scripting can, but it may just be enough to cover the needs of most entities. We will possibly add other functions to Expressions down the road if it makes sense for our clients. In the meantime, contact us for more information about Expressions and start creating world class web apps for your business teams.