Optional Attribute

Note: Support for this attribute added in Semaphore 5.10.2.

Determines whether a child rule of a NEAR rule is optional.

For example, if set to 1 (enabled), a score of 0 for this child does not prevent the parent rule from having a positive score. If, however, the child rule has a positive score, the score is reported or extracted as normal.

Notes:

• Optional children count towards the size of the matched NEAR rule and are not counted as skipped.
• Designating a rule as both optional and negated (see NOT) is not supported and the result is not defined.

Applies to

• Any rule that is a child of a NEAR rule

Values

• "1" - The child rule for which this attribute is specified is designated as optional. Therefore, the score of the child rule does not affect the score of the parent rule.
• “0” - The child rule with the attribute set to this value is mandatory and its lack will prevent the parent rule from firing. This is the default.