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Changing a rule

Written for TableDI 2.0.0 on macOS · updated 2026-09-11

A job's rules are its steps, in order: read the files (Import mapping), tidy them (Clean), pair the rows (Match), compare the amounts (Difference), sum up (Summary), add worked-out columns (Computed columns) and hand over (Delivery). To change one, open the job's Rules tab, pick the step on the left and change it in the middle. The bar under the form, This step right now:, shows what goes in and what gets matched with your change, worked out on this period's real data. Nothing counts until you click Apply · make v…: that makes a new version of the rules and works this period out again. Every older version stays under Versions, and Restore brings one back as a new version. Files you've already delivered aren't touched.

The steps run without AI. AI can suggest a change; it never runs a period.

The steps and what each one holds

  • Import mapping — Which column of the file becomes which column here: pairs of In the file and Here, plus Date format and Encoding. Import mapping stays first.
  • Clean — Tidy each source before it is matched: Drop repeats by, Pad with leading zeros to … characters, Trim spaces at both ends, Make all dates one format, Read as a number.
  • Match — Decide when a row on each side is the same transaction: Left, Right, the Key (what makes two rows the same), and How to match: One to one (a second hit becomes an exception) or One to many, added up (for payments in instalments). Also Ignore leading zeros in numeric keys and Ignore upper / lower case. Rows only on the left become unmatched exceptions; rows only on the right go into the result's not received column.
  • Difference — How far apart two amounts may be and still count as the same: Amount on the left, Amount on the right, Tolerance.
  • Summary — Roll the matched rows up into the shape your reader wants: Group by, and Numbers to work out — Total, Count, Smallest, Largest, Average — each shown as a column name you choose.
  • Computed columns — Columns worked out from the others: a Column name and a Formula.
  • Delivery — set on the Delivery tab (Open Delivery). Delivery stays last.

Next to each step on the left is what really went in and out of it this period.

Changing a step

  1. Open the job and click Rules. The tab shows the current version, such as v3.
  2. Pick the step on the left.
  3. Change it in the middle. After a moment the bar underneath works the change out on this period's data: in …, matched …, how many stay unmatched, and how many are not received. Preview the effect works it out again on demand.
  4. Click Apply · make v…. The button reads Apply · nothing changed until something has changed.

TableDI 2 confirms with v… applied. This period was worked out again. The Overview, the result and the exceptions now reflect the new version, and exceptions the change settles leave the Exceptions tab.

Starting from an exception (lifetime version)

Add the rule … and preview on the Exceptions tab brings you here with the rows that share the cause. With an AI key saved, a card appears on the right, A rule for these …, with Now and With this rule worked out by TableDI 2 on your data, not guessed by the model. Apply it, or close it and change the step yourself.

Versions and restoring

Versions lists every version: what changed, when, who (you, or suggested by AI, you confirmed) and how many rows it affected. Restore v… on an older one brings it back. Restoring makes a new version — nothing is overwritten, so the list of versions stays complete.

What a change touches, and what it doesn't

  • This period is worked out again with the new version, right away.
  • Periods you run later use the new version.
  • Periods already run keep the version they ran with, and the files you delivered stay as they were. Changing the rules doesn't rewrite an old period; it makes a new version.

The job's Run log shows which version each period ran with.

When a change is refused

  • «…» is not a column of … — the key has to be a column of that source.
  • Must be zero or more. — for the tolerance.
  • Fill this in. — a required field is empty.
  • This column is worked out by a rule, so it cannot be the key — Set the key on a column that comes from a source file.

In TableDI 2.0.0 you change the steps a job was built with. Their order is fixed, with Import mapping first and Delivery last.

Still stuck? Email us — one inbox, read by the people who build TableDI.