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11.10.3 Creating a New Rule Set and/or Tree Set

As mentioned previously, it is not necessary to create tree sets for all the rule types,
nor a rule tree for an item-level rule type for each and every task in a specification.
So, most typically, working rule sets will have rule trees defined for a few rule types,
while other types will not have rules trees defined in the set (any events that do not
have associated rules for that type of event are simply ignored). It follows that there
will be occasions where it becomes necessary to add a new tree set to a rule set for
a previously undefined rule type, or add a new tree, for a task that has no rule tree
for a particular rule type previously defined, to an existing tree set. Also, when a
new specification has been created, a corresponding base rule set will also need to
be created (if selections and exceptions for the new specification are to be handled
by the service).
For each of these situations, the rules editor provides a Create New Rule Set form
(see Fig. 11.21), which allows for the definition of new rule trees (with any number
of rule nodes) for existing tree sets (where there is a task of the specification that has
not yet had a tree defined for it within the tree set); the definition of new tree sets
for specifications that have not yet had a tree set defined for a particular rule type;
and entirely new rule sets for specifications that have not yet had a rule set created
for them. The form allows administrators to create a rule set, one rule tree at a time
(for the selected specification, rule type and, if applicable, task name); its use varies
slightly depending on whether it is working with a new rule set or an existing rule
set.
This section describes the features of the Create New Rule Set form for adding
a new rule set, and points out how the process differs for existing rule sets where
required. The creation of a new rule set begins by clicking the New Rule toolbar
button. On the form:
The Process Identifiers panel is where the names of the specification, rule type
and, if applicable, task name for the new tree are defined. The Specification Name
input is read-only – for new rule sets, it is the specification chosen via a Spec-
ification Location dialog displayed when the form is first opened; for existing
rule sets, it is the specification for the rule set currently loaded into the editor.
The Rule Type drop-down list contains all of the available rule types (i.e., all
the rule types for which no or incomplete tree sets exist). For new rule sets, all
rule types are available. The Task Name drop-down list contains all the avail-
able tasks for the selected rule type (i.e., tasks for which no tree exists in the
tree set for this rule type). The names of all tasks defined for a specification are
automatically gathered by the editor’s parsing of the particular specification file.
The Task Name list is disabled for case-level rule types.
The New Rule Node panel is identical to the panel on the Add New Rule form.
Here a condition and optional description can be entered, and the conclusion for
the new rule created or selected from the list (depending on the rule type – see
below).