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Equal To Field Troubleshooting

Common problems when creating and running an Equal To Field check, their causes, and how to resolve them.

Validation Fails When Creating the Check

Clicking Validate returns an error instead of a success message.

Cause: The rule could not run against the selected data. The most common reasons are an invalid Filter Clause expression, a connection problem with the source, or a container that failed to load.

Resolution:

  1. Review the error message: it explains what needs attention.
  2. Check the Filter Clause for typos: it must be a valid SQL WHERE expression for the selected container.
  3. If the message says the container is marked as Unloadable, the container was skipped after repeated operation failures. Follow the steps in Unloadable Container Error.

The Tolerance Seems to Be Ignored

You set a comparator but rows that differ within the margin are still reported.

Cause: The comparator you set does not cover the difference you see. The String comparator only normalizes whitespace, so it does not absorb a difference in case; the Numeric and Datetime margins only widen equality up to the epsilon you configured.

Resolution: Set the comparator that matches the field type, String for text, Datetime for dates and timestamps, Numeric for numbers, and widen the margin if the real difference is larger than it. Setting a comparator for a type it does not apply to is rejected with a 422 rather than ignored.

Rows Where One Side Is Empty Are Not Flagged

A record with a value on one side and nothing on the other passes.

Cause: This is by design when no comparator is set: NULL values pass, and the rule only compares two present values. With a comparator configured, only a row that is NULL on both sides passes, so this symptom points at a check with no comparator.

Resolution: Pair the check with Not Null on each column when both must always be filled in.

Text Rows Fire on Spacing

Values that read the same are reported as different.

Cause: Without a String comparator the text comparison is exact, including leading, trailing, and repeated whitespace.

Resolution: Turn on the String comparator's Ignore Whitespace option, which trims both sides and collapses runs of internal whitespace. There is no case-insensitive option: two values that differ only in case will keep being reported, so normalize the case upstream or in a computed field if that difference is acceptable.

The Compared Field Is Not in the Dropdown

The column you want to compare against is not listed.

Cause: The dropdown lists the fields of the same container. A column that lives in another table cannot be selected.

Resolution: For a comparison across containers, use Data Diff, which pairs rows between two containers.

An Edited Check Keeps Behaving the Old Way

You changed the configuration but the anomaly list did not change.

Cause: Edits take effect on the next Scan. Saving the check does not re-evaluate the data, and anomalies raised under the previous configuration are not modified.

Resolution: Run a Scan on the container (or wait for the scheduled one). Old anomalies stay open until you triage them or a Full scan with Auto Resolve clears them. See What Happens to Existing Anomalies.

No Anomalies Although the Data Looks Wrong

A Scan ran, the data clearly breaks the rule, but nothing was reported.

Cause: One of these configurations is excluding the violations:

  • The check is in Draft status: Draft checks are not evaluated by Scans.
  • The Filter Clause excludes those rows before the evaluation runs.
  • Coverage is below 100% and the failing fraction stayed within the tolerance, so the check passed.

Resolution: Confirm the check is Active and test the filter expression against the offending rows. Then review the coverage setting; see Coverage and Tolerance.

Expected One Anomaly per Row, Got a Single Rolled-Up One

Many rows failed, but the scan reported one Shape Anomaly instead of per-row Record Anomalies.

Cause: When the number of failing rows exceeds the scan's rollup threshold, the per-row findings are grouped into one rolled-up Shape Anomaly.

Resolution: This is expected behavior; the rolled-up anomaly carries sampled source records. To change the threshold, see Maximum Record Anomalies per Check.