Expressions: Aggregations On The Fly - Pattern Match Include or Exclude List

Added in Q3 22

Let's imagine that you want to identify people who have repeatedly visited the same European destination.

To create the pattern match:

Open a new Expression and click onAdd Aggregation button and then on the tab entitled Frequency(Bookings) that opens up

In the Type drop down select Pattern Match
Set the Grouping Table to People and Transactional Table to Bookings
Drag the Booking Date variable onto the Order records by drop-box and leave the From as Earliest to Latest
Drag the Destination selector variable onto the Pattern Match Variable drop box

The above settings allow us to search for patterns in people's holiday choices, ordered by their booking date.

Click Set pattern - a new window will open

By default, patterns using a selector variable default to displaying Descriptions

Click on the Value 1 cell drop-down menu and select =
Right-click on the Value 1 cell to access the copy and fill options - select Fill cells across and down

We know that the maximum number of bookings any one person has made on the Holidays system is 8, so:

Complete settings as per the screenshot below and OK

By default, the system will look for your defined pattern across all destinations. However, to limit this, you can choose to include or exclude specific categories using the and icons at the bottom of the window. For example, to only include European destinations visited:

Click on the include list icon

Select the required categories from the left-hand column and drag them across to the Pattern Code List column on the right

Now only European destinations will be considered for the longest sequences of the same destination visited.