Balance Class Properties

Balance class properties include a name and an ID that are used to identify the balance class in MATRIXX Engine. All other balance class properties define how balance values and rating formulas are displayed in My MATRIXX. They do not have any operational use.

Balance class properties are listed in Balance Class Properties.

Table 1. Balance Class Properties
Property Description
ID A unique ID used internally during rating to determine the which balances to impact.

You can enter a specific ID or allow My MATRIXX to generate one.

Name A descriptive name for the balance class. Balance class names are displayed in the My MATRIXX Inventory and rate table definitions.

When you define a currency balance class, the Currency drop-down menu displays a list of defined currency names; the selected currency name cannot be modified in the Edit Balance Class window.

Description Description based on the type of balance class:
  • Asset balance class — (Optional) description to identify the asset balance class.
  • Currency balance class — Automatically assigned three-character ISO currency code based on the selected currency name. This field cannot be modified in the Edit Balance Class window.
External ID (Optional) Use this field to identify this item in MATRIXX pricing items. An External ID is saved to the pricing configuration file and loaded into the Pricing Database. Set the External ID value to any alphanumeric character that is meaningful to your implementation. An External ID can be used, for example, to relate offers in the MATRIXX system to products in an external pricing plan. It can be used, for example, by the Subscriber Management API to query and purchase product offers and bundle IDs.
Unit Type The service attribute being measured during rating to determine the balance impacts:
  • duration — The balance can be impacted when a service that spans a time period is rated. The associated balance templates can be impacted by seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and other specified time units.
  • volume — The balance can be impacted when a service that has a quantity is rated. The associated balance templates can be impacted by bytes, megabytes, kilobytes, gigabytes, and other specified volume units.
  • none — The balance can be impacted when a service that has single, one-time event is rated. Use this for services like SMS, MMS, and text messaging.
Units A unit that determines how service usage is measured. Valid measurement units are dependent on the Unit Type. For example, if the Unit Type is duration, the valid units might be seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks.

Currencies and meters that track currency impacts do not have an associated unit. Assets for service types that have single events, such as MMS and SMS, have a balance class unit of None because they impact on a per-event basis (an impact of 1 for every one event that occurs). If the balance class unit is a different from the rating formula unit, it is converted to the rating formula unit during rating. For example, when the balance class unit is megabytes and the rating formula unit is bytes, the unit is converted to bytes.

The units available are defined in the ServiceUnits.xml pricing configuration file.

Expiration Notification Profile (Optional) Indicates when to send notifications for the expiry of balances in the wallet for balances whose balance templates are derived from this balance class.

If this option is not selected, MATRIXX Engine does not generate notifications when balances in the wallet of this balance class expire.

Sets a notification profile that determines when and how often balance expiration notifications are sent. A notification profile can be configured to send notifications at different times (for example, immediately and an hour after the initial balance expiration).

If the balance instance is periodic, a notification is triggered when the instance expires and when each individual entry in the instance expires.

For more information about expiration notification profiles, see the discussion about notification profiles in MATRIXX Pricing and Rating.

Notify on Last Balance Instance Expiration (Optional) If you selected an expiration notification profile, this option indicates to generate the balance expiry notification only for the last expiring balance for the balance class. The end time of all balances in all the templates derived from this balance class are considered to get the last expiring balance. Balances that are valid forever are not considered in the calculations to get the last expiring balance.

If deselected (at the balance class level), the notification profile at the class level is not used, and the notification configuration at the balance template level is used instead.

If this balance-expiry option is enabled at the balance class and balance template level, multiple notifications are sent for both the last expiring balance for the class and for the last expiring balance for the template.

Align Symbol Specifies how to align the symbol:
  • left — Displays the symbol to the left of the balance quantity.
  • right — Displays the symbol to the right of the balance quantity.
Symbol A symbol displayed in the rating formula. For example, you can display the dollar sign ($) for dollar currencies.
Decimal Separator The character to display as the separator between whole numbers and fractional quantities. For currencies, the separator is a period (.). You can use any keyboard character as a separator.
Precision The number of digits to the right of the decimal point that are used to express the balance value in My MATRIXX. It is the position at which fractional rating results are rounded. Currencies typically have a precision of 2.
Note: This precision is for display in My MATRIXX only and does not influence calculations during rating.
Use Thousands Separator Select this option to display a separator between thousands and hundreds.
Thousands Separator The character to display as the separator, such as a comma (,).
Use Negative Sign Select this option to display a negative sign for amounts that contain a negative value.
Balance Tags The ID of the balance tag attached to a balance within that balance class. Balance tags are used in rating and normalization to select a balance.