Less Than Field Anomaly Reporting

How the Less Than Field check reports violations: the anomaly messages it produces, what the numbers mean, how the offending value appears in Source Records, and how to replace the default message with a value from your own data.

Anomaly Messages

At 100% coverage, Less Than Field reports violating rows as Record Anomalies. Below 100% coverage, a failed coverage assertion produces one Shape Anomaly for the dataset. The two templates are:

Record Anomaly

<field> has the value <value>, which is not less than <other field>

Shape Anomaly

<field> values are not less than <other field>, affecting N of M asserted records

When a filter is set, the message names it at the end of its first sentence, as (applied to records where <expression>). Record and Shape Anomaly messages both carry it.

Scan settings can group a large number of Record Anomalies into one rolled-up Shape Anomaly, which carries the Shape Anomaly message. This behavior applies across rule types and is documented under Maximum Record Anomalies per Check.

What the Numbers Mean

• N: the number of rows where the relationship does not hold.
• M: the total number of rows the check evaluated (after the filter, if any). Rows where a side is NULL count in this total; whether they pass depends on the comparator, as described in NULL Handling.

For a Shape Anomaly, the failing share appears in the opening line of the anomaly's description, for example 2 of 4 records (50%) in ACCOUNTS failed 1 check during full scan #4821. That line counts against every record the scan processed, so on a filtered check its denominator is no smaller than the check's own asserted count. See Anomaly Description.

Source Records Behavior

The offending cell of the target field is highlighted with an orange outline and an orange-tinted background in the Source Records view. The compared field renders normally, so read both columns side by side to see why the row failed.

Custom Anomaly Description

Less Than Field supports Custom Anomaly Description because it emits Record Anomalies. The option is anomaly_message_field in the API and the Custom Anomaly Description toggle in the UI.

When the option points at another column on the same row, the Record Anomaly message becomes that column's value for the violating row, shown as written. When the column is null, missing, or empty, the message falls back to the rule's standard wording, and when the column is masked the message reads <masked>. Shape Anomaly messages are unaffected.

See Also