The Rule Statements window displays a list of natural language statements which describe the rules modeled in the Rulesheet. The Rule Statements window has several columns:
Rule Statements serve as documentation or elaboration on the meaning and intent of business rules modeled in the Rulesheet. Linking the plain-language description of a business rule in the Rule Statement section to its formal model in the other sections can provide important insight into rule operation during testing and deployment. Here, rule statement #2 is an informal description of the rule logic modeled in the Rulesheet column #2, as shown above.
When a Rule Statement row is clicked, the corresponding Columns or Action rows will highlight in orange in the Rulesheet. When a Rulesheet column is selected, the corresponding Rule Statement will highlight in orange.
Ref
This field is mandatory when linking Rule Statements to their Rulesheet columns (the rule models).
Rule Statements have a many-to-many relationship with Rulesheet columns. In other words, a Rule Statement may be reused for multiple Columns, and multiple Rule Statements may be expressed for a single Column. Entries in the Ref column serve to establish the relationship between the Rule Statements and Rulesheet columns. The various options are summarized below:
Ref
The Rule Statement is linked or connected to:
1
Column 1
1:3
Columns 1,2 and 3
{ 1, 3 }
Columns 1 and 3
0
Column 0
A0
Action Row A in Column 0
B1
Action Row B in Column 1
C1
Action Row C in Column 1
A1:B2
Action Rows A and B in Columns 1 and 2
{ A1, B2 }
Action Row A in Column 1 and Action Row B in Column 2
1:B2
invalid
A:2
invalid
When a colon (:) character is used to indicate that a range of Action cells is linked to the Rule Statement, then the left-hand and right-hand sides of the : must have the same form: both [column][row], both [column], or both [row] values. When they do not, the values will turn red, as shown in the last two rows above.
ID
Allows you to link Rule Statements to external source documentation using a code or ID number. This column is optional.
Post
This field is mandatory if you want the Rule Statement to appear as a Rule Message during Rulesheet execution (called posting the Rule Statement). Three severity levels are available: Info, Warning, and Violation. These severity levels have no intrinsic meaning - you can use them however you want. In a Corticon Studio Ruletest, Rule Messages with Info severity are color-coded green, Warnings yellow, and Violations red.
Alias
This field is mandatory if you want the Rule Statement posted during Rulesheet execution. All posted Rule Messages must be attached or linked to a Vocabulary entity. The choice of entity to post to is usually based on the entity being tested or acted upon in the associated rule.
Text
Technically, this field is optional, but posting a Rule Statement with no text results in an empty Rule Message. In order to have a meaningful posted Rule Message, we recommend entering plain language business rule statement in this field. Even when you do not plan to post messages during Rulesheet execution, creating a clear, concise version of the rule model is considered a best practice in rule modeling.
Rule Name
Allows you to assign custom names to the Rule Statements and the rule models they link to. This field is optional.
Rule Link
When a rule model has external documentation, you can enter an absolute path to a file on your local system to which it can link.. This field is optional.
Source Name
Allows you to reference the name of the source material the rule from which it originates. This field is optional.
Source Link
When a rule model has external documentation, you can enter an absolute path to a file on your local system to which it can link. This field is optional.
Category
Allows you to assign a category name to each Rule Statement and the rule model to which it links. This field is optional.
Comments
Allows you to enter any comments for this Rule Statement and rule model to which it links. This field is optional.
