Issue/Symptom/Question

Branching Rules for Inspection Surveys

Applies To

Penta for Windows
Service Management
Reference Manual

Resolution/Fix/Answer

Branching

Branching allows you to create inspection surveys that cause PENTA to include or exclude questions based on a survey taker’s response to previous questions asked. For instance, if the survey included several questions about a certain component, you would only want PENTA to ask those questions if the survey taker answered Yes to the question “Is the [component] accessible?”.

To establish branching in a survey, you create “branching rules.” Branching rules allow PENTA to skip over one or more questions within a survey that do not apply to the survey taker.

There are two ways to set up branching rules—“Skip To Question” and “Advanced Branching.”

Skip To Question

The simplest use of branching is when the question has a list of possible answers. In this case, if the survey taker responds with an answer that has an associated Skip To question, the survey branches to that Skip To question. If the survey taker selects an answer that does not have a Skip To question, then PENTA asks the next sequential question.

Advanced Branching

Advanced Branching provides the greatest amount of control and flexibility; however, it is more difficult to set up. When you set up the Advanced Branching rule(s), you must provide:

1. A rule expression

2. A question to skip

3. An (optional) rule name

PENTA assesses the branching rules by the evaluation order—it finds the first rule that evaluates as true and uses the rule to determine which question to Skip To. If PENTA finds no rules that evaluate as true, then it asks the next sequential question.

There is no limit to the number of Advanced Branching rules you can apply to a question.

Notes About Branching

• You can use Skip To questions and Advanced Branching rules together.

In this case, PENTA executes the Advanced Branching rules first. If there are no Advanced Rules that evaluate as true, then PENTA uses the Skip To question associated with the answer. The reason that Advanced Rules take precedence is because they offer more flexibility. You could create an Advanced Rule that uses answers from the current question and previous questions to determine which question to Skip To. If that complex rule results as false, then PENTA could fall back to the simpler Skip To selection.

• When to use Advanced Branching instead of a Skip To question:

• The question does not have a list of possible answers. In the case where the question requires a non-list answer (e.g., an answer in the form of free form text or a number) the only option is to use Advanced Branching.

• PENTA determines branching based on the value of Unknown or NA. For example, if the answer is Unknown, then skip to question X.

• Branching requires use of variables to access information in a previous question. For example, if the answer to question 5 is false, then skip to question 10.

• Branching requires a more complex condition. For example, if the current question is true and question 5 is false, then skip to question 20.

Rule Expression

A rule expression is an expression that results as true or false. For example, the expression 5 > 3 evaluates as true.

Expression Syntax

An expression consists of a combination of rule variables, comparison operators, logical operators, math operators, functions, and constants; however, not all are required in an expression.

You must surround alphanumeric constants with single quotes. You cannot surround numeric constants with quotes.

• Rule Variables – Allows you to create a rule for PENTA to evaluate based on values the survey taker provides for the current question and/or other questions, answers from previous inspections, or equipment attributes.

• Branching Results – If a branching rule expression evaluates as True, the inspection logic branches to the question you indicate. A branching rule expression must include one of the following in the Skip To question result:

• A valid question code

• END

• Deficiency Results – If a rule expression evaluates as True, PENTA flags the item as a deficiency.

The table below provides a list of rule variables that the branching rules can use.

• Comparison Operators – PENTA uses comparison operators in logical statements to determine equality or difference between variables or values.

Given that x=5, the table below explains the comparison operators:

• Logical Operators – PENTA uses logical operators to determine logic between variables or values.

Given that x=6 and y=3, the table below explains the logical operators:

• Math Operators – PENTA uses math operators to modify a value.

Given that x=6 and y=3, the table below explains the logical operators:

• Functions – PENTA uses functions to provide extra functionality within the expression.

• Constants – Constraints are fixed strings or numeric values of your choosing. For example, 7, 115.4, Lennox, etc.

Examples