Business Rules
The Windchill Service Information Manager — S1000D Module supports the provision of business rules.
Business Rules Support in S1000D 4.0.1 and 4.1 Products
• Support for BREX data module type (information code 022)
The BREX data module specifies the business rules for the product.
• Ability to add BREX data modules to an S1000D information structure to provide the business rules definition for the product
A BREX data module is added to the Disassembly Code Variant node of an information structure.
• Option to edit BREX data module in Arbortext Editor
• Content validation against the BREX data modules specified for the product
Content passes or fails validation based on whether or not it matches the rules defined in the BREX data module. Validation is successful if all rules are passed.
Business Rules Support in S1000D 4.2 Products
When working with S1000D 4.2 products, the business rules process is different. The basic process of using BREX data modules in an information structure to define business rules logic and enable content validation applies, but with options for additional refinement:
• Support for Business Rules Document data module type (information code 024)
The Business Rules Document documents the business rules for a project in a conceptual form, with descriptions and examples.
It can be inserted into a Disassembly Code Variant node of an S1000D information structure (4.2 only), and edited in Arbortext Editor.
• Business Rules Severity Level code type
Default Business Rules Severity Level codes are provided in the default S1000D look-up library loaded with an S1000D 4.2 product. Custom values can also be configured to meet project requirements.
• Options to define business rule severity levels in BREX and Business Rule Document data modules to further refine the content validation process:
◦ Support for brSeverityLevel attribute for snsRules, structureObjectRule, notationRule, and nonContextRule elements — provide severity level setting for individual rules
You can edit this value in Arbortext Editor.
◦ Support for defaultBrSeverityLevel attribute for brex element (S1000D 4.2 BREX data module) and brDoc element (S1000D 4.2 Business Rules Document data module) — provide severity level for all rules in the BREX data module, or for rules that don’t have an individual severity setting
You have the option to set the value for the attribute when creating the data module. You can subsequently edit the value in two places:
▪ In Windchill, using the Edit Attributes option for the data module
▪ In Arbortext Editor
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If you author the value in Arbortext Editor, and choose a value that does not exist in the library, the value will show as blank if you subsequently attempt to edit it in Windchill.
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The attributes can be set to one of the Business Rules Severity Level codes configured in the S1000D 4.2 product / library.
• Business rules breach severity levels preference — list of severity levels for which BREX validation fails if a rule with one of the listed values is breached
The preference is set at product level. It is provided with one level: brsl01. Further values can be added as a comma separated list.
• Content validation with reference to the business rules severity levels
BREX validation refers to the values listed in the Business rules breach severity levels preference if set, and to the severity level of each rule (or default severity level if missing) and fails or passes rules accordingly.
• Support for Business Rules Decisions
Business Rules Decisions are listed in Business Rules Document data modules. They can be referenced from another Business Rules Document data module, or from a BREX data module.
A Business Rules Decision has an optional ID attribute brDecisionIdentNumber. The values of these attributes must be unique in BREX and Business Rules Document data modules, and throughout the Windchill product.
Validation that brDecisionIdentNumber attributes are unique is carried out during these actions:
◦ Check in of an S1000D 4.2 Brex or S1000D 4.2 Business Rules Document data module
Check in is prevented, and an error is generated in the validation report, if there is a duplicate brDecisionIdentNumber attribute in the data module.
A warning message is generated on check in if there is a duplicate brDecisionIdentNumber attribute in another data module in the target product.
◦ Import of an S1000D package
Content import fails if duplicate brDecisionIdentNumber attributes are encountered in the import package. Duplicates are listed in the Import Validation report.
Import is permitted if there are duplicate brDecisionIdentNumber attributes in the target Windchill product. Duplicates are listed in the Import Validation report.
