Calculating values

1 Topic
Release 2
Data Integration
Pega Platform
8.5
English
Enhance your existing data by calculating field values automatically to simplify processes and provide additional business
insight. Automatic calculations reduce errors and can eliminate manual steps.

After completing this module, you should be able to:

Identify the role of calculated fields in applications

●
Calculate
● the value of a field
Topics

Calculated values
Relationships between fields
A calculation expresses a relationship between fields by setting the value of a calculated field based on one or more input
fields. For example, an online shopping cart application provides customers a total cost for each item ordered, based on unit
price and quantity ordered, then calculates a total for all the items ordered.

The application then calculates any assessed tax and adds the tax to the order total to calculate the final charge to the
customer. Other calculations can determine the value of promotional discounts and frequent shopper points.
Calculation occurs whenever users update the value of an input field. Defining a field calculation reduces the chance for error
and improves process efficiency by eliminating the need for manual calculation.

App Studio allows two types of calculations: functions and custom calculations. Functions iterate over items in a multiple
source data relationship, while custom calculations can reference any combination of simple and fancy fields. You can use a
calculated field as an input to another calculation, creating a network of dependent calculations. When a user updates the
value of a field that serves as a calculation input, the resulting calculation can trigger additional calculations for dependent
fields.

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Functions
Functions iterate over items in a data relationship and are supported for Decimal, Currency, and Integer field types. App
Studio provides four basic functions for use in calculations:

Sum of – add all instances of a specified property in a data relationship

Average of – calculate the average value of all specified property instances
Maximum of – determine the largest value for all specified property instances
Minimum of – determine the smallest value for all specified property instances
Sum of
Consider the need to calculate a shopping cart total. As customers add items to an order, remove items from an order, or
update the quantity of an item on an order, the application must update the total cost. You can use the Sum of function
to calculate the Order total field value.

Average of
An online retailer wants to configure an application dashboard to analyze customer spending patterns so managers can
identify the territories that generate the most — and least — revenue on a per-customer basis. You can create a list of
submitted orders filtered by territory. You can then use the Average of function to identify the average order value.

Maximum of
Consider the need to allow customers to apply a single promotional discount to an order. Customers submit one or more
promotional codes to apply various discounts, such as 20% off the most expensive item or waiving the shipping charge for an
order over a specified amount. You can create a promotional discounts multiple source data relationship, where each item in
the list identifies the promotional code and the discount value. You can then use the Maximum of function to determine the
most valuable promotional discount to apply to the order.

Minimum of
Consider a promotion where preferred customers receive the lowest-cost item from a list of approved free items when placing
an order. You can use the Minimum of function to identify the lowest-cost item in the order, and then apply a credit to the
order in that amount.

Custom calculations
Configure a custom calculation to calculate the field value by using any number of other simple or fancy field values. In the
following example, an online ordering application calculates the cost for each type of item by multiplying the quantity by the
unit price.

When you configure a custom calculation, you reference fields by name using the period character ("."). If the field is part of a
data relationship, add the data relationship name as a prefix. The following example shows a custom calculation that adds
the Cost field for two data relationship fields: TeamHats and TeamMagnets.

Custom calculations support common operations, such as:

Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Grouping (using parenthesis)
Boolean AND
Boolean OR

For example, you can configure a calculation to calculate the order tax by multiplying the tax rate by the order total.

.TaxRate * .OrderTotal
You can define a custom calculation for any Simple field type except Email, Phone, and Picklist. For text-based formats, you
can configure a calculation to assemble a text string by using a process known as concatenation. For example, an appraisal
firm offers to estimate the value of collectible items for customers who submit an item for review. The firm wants to add
a comment to the page displaying the item, noting the following information:

Appraised item name

Approximate valuation
Appraiser ID
Appraisal date

You can define a calculation to assemble the comment by using a combination of field references and static text, where the
static text is enclosed with quotation marks (").

"Appraiser " + .AppraiserID + " appraised " + .ItemName + " at a value of " + .AppraisedAmount + " on " + .AppraisalDate + "."
When evaluating the calculation, the application replaces the reference to each field with the current field value. The
calculation creates a string similar to the following example:

Appraiser 04795AD appraised Silver platter at a value of USD 350 on January 9, 2019.

Note: In the preceding example, the italicized text indicates the value of a referenced field.

Calculation networks
To identify the relationships between fields, Pega Platform™ establishes and updates a network of calculations for an
application. When you define a field calculation, Pega Platform adds that calculation to the calculation network. This
calculation network allows Pega Platform to update all relevant fields whenever a value changes. For example, in a shopping
cart, changing item quantity can push an update through several dependent calculated fields.
 In the following image, click the + icons to see the functions that trigger the calculations in the shopping cart example.

This learning is interactive and cannot be experienced offline. Please visit https://academy.pega.com to complete.
This learning is interactive and cannot be experienced offline. Please visit https://academy.pega.com to complete.
Quiz duration
10 mins

Calculating values -- Mon, 03/15/2021 - 18:40

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