Reference > Rule Languages > Business Action Language > BAL Literals

This section describes the literal values used in BAL for these types:

Numbers

Number types are represented as a set of digits with a possible decimal point separator, a grouping symbol, a minus sign and an exponent. For example:

The lexical representation of numbers (the decimal point separator and the grouping separator) is locale-specific.

Strings

String literals are represented by a set of characters enclosed between double-quotes ("Text string").

To include certain special characters within a String, you must prefix them with a back slash (\). For example, to include a double-quote within a String, you would write \”. The back slash is required here to indicate that the String has not yet ended.

The following special character sequences are accepted within text strings:

Dates and Times

Several types of date and time are available.

In the following table, a is the symbol for AM or PM, and z is the time zone information.

Date 
Standard date format that includes time, and is written as:  
m/d/y h:mm:ss a 
Simple Date 
Simple date format that does not include time, and is written as:  
m/d/y 
Time 
Time format that is written as either:  
h:mm:ss a 
h:mm a 
Universal Time 
Time format that includes the time zone, and is written as either: h:mm:ss a z  
h:mm a z 
Universal Date 
Date and time format that includes the time zone, and is written as: 
m/d/y h:mm:ss a z 

Related Concepts

Anatomy of a Rule Artifact
Business Rules
Decision Tables
Decision Trees

Related Tasks

Creating Business Rules
Working With Decision Tables
Working With Decision Trees

Related Reference

BAL Constructs
BAL Operators

Related Samples and Tutorials

Tutorial: Creating Business Rules