Property Calculator Conditions

Overview

Conditions determine when a calculation rule, error case, or related object update should execute. Multiple conditions can be combined — all conditions must be met (AND logic).

Basic Conditions

Standard M-Files search conditions applied to the current version of the object.

Use when: You need simple property value matching (e.g., “Class = Invoice” or “Status = Active”).

Example: Only calculate tax when PD.Country = “Finland”:

• Condition: Property PD.Country equals Finland

Changed Propertyvalues

Detects whether specific properties were modified in the current check-in operation. This is the exact label shown in the Condition Type dropdown — it’s spelled Changed Propertyvalues (one word), not “Changed Property Values”.

Use when: You want a calculation to run only when certain properties change (not on every check-in).

Example: Recalculate PD.Total only when PD.Quantity or PD.UnitPrice changes.

Conditions for Previous Object Version

Search conditions applied to the previous version of the object (before the current modification).

Use when: You need to detect state transitions or value changes by comparing old vs. new.

Example: Detect when an object transitions from Draft to Active by checking: Previous version has Status = Draft AND current version has Status = Active.

Compare Properties

Compares two property values (or placeholder-resolved paths) against each other.

Use when: You need to compare two properties on the same object, or compare a property with a value from a related object.

The “Included in”/”Match” options are for multi-value (lookup or multi-select) comparisons — e.g. X Included in Y checks whether Property X’s single value appears in Property Y’s list, and Any Match/No Match compare two multi-select lists against each other. There is no numeric greater-than/less-than or text-contains comparison in this condition type; use Advanced Conditions with a plain NCalc comparison (>, <) or the contains() function instead.

Example: Fire rule only when PD.ActualCost exceeds PD.BudgetedCost (via Advanced Conditions, since Compare Properties has no “greater than” option):

%PROPERTY_{PD.ActualCost}% > %PROPERTY_{PD.BudgetedCost}%

Advanced Conditions

An NCalc expression that must evaluate to true for the condition to pass. This is the most flexible condition type.

Use when: You need complex logic that can’t be expressed with other condition types.

Example: Fire rule only when the invoice amount exceeds the threshold AND the customer is domestic:

%PROPERTY_{PD.Amount}% > 10000 and lookupName(%PROPERTY_{PD.Country}%) == 'Finland'

Match with RegExp

Matches a property value against a C# regular expression.

Use when: You need pattern-based validation or matching.

Example: Only process documents with a valid invoice number format (INV-YYYY-NNNN):

• Value: %PROPERTY_{PD.InvoiceNumber}%
• RegExp: ^INV-\d{4}-\d{4}$

File Modified

Detects changes to the files attached to an object.

Use when: You need to trigger calculations based on file additions, removals, or edits.

Example: Update a PD.LastFileUpdate timestamp whenever files are edited.

Comparing to Main Object (removed — use the options below)

This standalone condition type is no longer offered. Comparing the current (related) object against the main object that triggered the update chain is now done in one of two ways:

• Compare Properties with Read Y from Main Object enabled — Property Y is resolved from the main (triggering) object instead of the current object. Best for lookup/MSLU comparisons.
• Advanced Conditions using the mainObject() function — the placeholders inside mainObject(...) are resolved against the main object. Best for value or numeric comparisons.

Example: During a cascading update, only update the related invoice when the main contract’s PD.Status = Active:

• Advanced Conditions: mainObject(%PROPERTY_{PD.Status}%) == 'Active'
• or Compare Properties: Property X = Active, Comparison = Equal, Property Y = %PROPERTY_{PD.Status}%, Read Y from Main Object = ON