Use of "&" in rules

Question

Hi Gurus,
I am new to rules, i have to understand some code and need to modify. I very new to rules. I have a doubts regarding rules. What is the use of "&" sign in rules? How do we use this in rules? And could you plz explain below statements.
1) HS.Exp “A#BegRetainedEarnings ”&“= A#EndRetEarn.Y#Prior.P#Last  ”&“+ A#NetIncome.Y#Prior.P#Last.W#YTD” -- in this statement what is the use of "&" and how it works.
2) HS.Exp "A#Account3.C1#Computers = " & SomeVariable --- In this stament "&" use and how it works.
3) HS.Exp “A#Account3.C1#Computers = A#Account4 “ & “.C1#Computers * 1.1” -- Plz explain this statement and *".C1#Computers"* . with out specifying other dimensions, what is the purpose of ".C1#Computers".
Thanks and regards
nivas

Answer 1

Ampersands is your concatenation symbol, it is used to add a variable to a text string.
HS.Exp “A#BegRetainedEarnings ”&“= A#EndRetEarn.Y#Prior.P#Last ”&“+ A#NetIncome.Y#Prior.P#Last.W#YTD”
The ampersand appears to be unnecessary in the above example this should work
HS.Exp “A#BegRetainedEarnings = A#EndRetEarn.Y#Prior.P#Last+ A#NetIncome.Y#Prior.P#Last.W#YTD”
You can test this by scanning your rules.
HS.Exp "A#Account3.C1#Computers = " & SomeVariable --- In this stament "&" use and how it works.
if your variable equals Banana, the equivalent string would be HS.Exp "A#Account3.C1#Computers = Banana" meaning whatever the value of the variable is what it will be appended to the string.
HS.Exp “A#Account3.C1#Computers = A#Account4 “ & “.C1#Computers * 1.1” -- Plz explain this statement and ".C1#Computers" . with out specifying other dimensions, what is the purpose of ".C1#Computers".
Again the ampersand appears to be unnecessary.
The purpose of ".C1#Computers", is to limit the value placed on your target account to that of the Computers Member of the Custom 1 dimension.
Please take the following statement the right way: Before venturing into the rules file, learn some VBA.
Edited by: Raul Rodriguez on Feb 12, 2011 3:35 PM