Using Wildcards to Define Complex Translations

1 Minute to read

Print
Dark
Light
PDF

Article summary

Did you find this summary helpful?

Thank you for your feedback

The following table provides a list of wildcard characters(used to define complex Translations) allowed when defining Translations along with a description of each.

Wildcard Character	Usage Pattern	Action	Description
%	123%	Allow	All source segments beginning with 123.
	%123	Allow	All source segments ending with 123.
	%123%	Allow	All source segments containing 123.
	123%%	Deny	More than one ‘%’ not allowed in sequence.
?	123‌?	Allow	All 4 digit source segments beginning with 123.
	?123	Allow	All 4 digit source segments ending with 123.
	?123?	Allow	A 5 digit source segments containing 123 in the middle.
	123??	Allow	Multiple ‘‌?’ are allowed in sequence. All 5 digit source segments beginning with 123.
~	100~200	Allow	All source values from 100 to 200 (both numbers inclusive).
	~300	Deny	‘~’ is not allowed as the first value in a source definition.
	500~	Deny	‘~’ is not allowed as the last value in a source definition.
	200~100	Deny	To value must be > than From value.
	100~200~300	Deny	Multiple ‘~’ not allowed in a single source definition.
	100~~200	Deny	Multiple ‘~’ not allowed in a sequence.
	100~??	Deny	‘~’ cannot be used with any other wild card character.
	%~100	Deny	‘~’ cannot be used with any other wild card character.
%	100%? or 100?%	Deny	'%’ & ‘‌?’ cannot be used In a sequence.
	%100?	Allow	All source segments containing 123 in the middle and one character after.
	?10%1	Allow	All source segments containing 10 in the middle and one character before and ending in 1.

If an incorrect combination of wildcard characters is used in Translation Lines, exceptions are generated when you save.

The precedence of wildcard characters for applying Translation Rules is %, ~, ‌ and specific\exact character match. This means the system will first apply % to all applicable Translations, followed by ~, ‌ and exact character match.

Example: 1

Translation lines are defined with wildcard characters as follows.

Source Segment	Target Segment
10%	1010
1000 ~ 1999	2010
10‌?	3010
1050	4010

In data loads, the source segment is automatically mapped based on the Translations. Each time the Translation Rule is applied, the previous values for Segment Mapping are updated with the latest values.

Source Segment	% Applied	~ Applied	Applied	Exact Match Applied	Final Target Segment Mapping
100	1010		3010		3010
1000	1010	2010			2010
10000	1010				1010
105	1010		3010		3010
1004	1010	2010			2010
1050	1010	2010		4010	4010

Example 2:

Translation lines defined with wildcard character ‌'?':

Source Segment	Sub Account	Target Segment
101	2001	1010
1??	???	2010

In data loads, the source segment is automatically mapped based on the Translations. In this case, because line #1 is more specific that line #2, Source Segment 101 is mapped to 1010 instead of 2010.

Was this article helpful?

What's Next

Description of Fields on the Translations Setup Page