Action Based Data Policies

Action Based Data Policies

• Can be triggered by one or more operations.
• Can be invoked before or after a record is applied to the database.
• Can be invoked before or after retrieving one more records from the database.

Tip: When you hear "action-based", think "event-based". This kind of data policy is initiated by a "triggering event". That event can be an Action-button in the GUI, or it can one of several other kinds of events.

Activation Sequence

An action-based data policy can be set to execute either before or after the triggering event. For example:

• Before adding or updating – Validate the incoming data, accept it or reject it by throwing an exception
• After adding or updating – Update Related Objects
• Before data retrieval - Modify the query before applying it
• After data retrieval - Mask sensitive data like a social security number or credit card number before the data is displayed.

Examples of Action Based Data Policies

• In a sales department, the local sales representative automatically receives an email notification when a prospective client requests information from the organization's web site. The data policy is triggered by the addition of a new record (prospect), choosing the email recipient based on the territory.
• In a manufacturing operation, the parts department wants to know if the inventory on a popular part is low. The data policy is triggered by an update to the quantity of units in inventory.
• When adding new records, validate the address/phone/email fields before allowing the records to be added to the database
• When importing records (leads file from a tradeshow, for example), verify that the record is not a duplicate of any already existing person/company
• When retrieving records, mask social security numbers or salary figures before displaying the data.

In anAction Based data policy, the following elements are defined:

Trigger

Add or Update a record in the Prospects object

Criteria

Check if the phone number and email fields are populated (not blank)

Actions

Send an email acknowledgment to the Prospect

Assign a task to the customer representative

Learn more: Build an Action Based Data Policy