local variable and rule input

A rule input is simply a piece of data that you can pass into a rule or interface to enable some sort of processing. A local variable on the other hand is something that can be defined within that rule or interface to act as a placeholder for data which can be called later on (and repeatedly) for clarity of code and for minimization of processing.

RuleInputs: Which are variables used to capture the output of the form or to provide the input to the form for further workflow.

local variables: which are used within the form.

if you take java programming language as an example
rule inputs are global variables you can use them throughout the java class.

local variables you can use them inside the class method only.


hope the analogy helps

Regards,
Rajesh Kilaru