Rules User Interfaces

5 min

there are three different user interfaces for working with rules they are not all equally capable the information below describes each and outlines what actions each is best at performing rules table the rules table lets you manage any of the rule types for all of the rpa tools the table shows all the rules defined for the currently selected scope (project) and currently selected rpa tool from the rules table page you can delete, generate, enable/disable, and configure rules for use you can also change the scope for individual rules between project and instance configuring rules in the rules table requires direct typing or cut & paste of ids/names from pad, as opposed to the wizard that provides real time picklists the rules table also provides analytical information for generated rules, showing the number of occurrences for each rule and, when clicked through, a list of those occurrences this information is very useful for evaluating which rules to spend time configuring (more occurrences means more time saved by using a rule) rules wizard the rules wizard is a simpler experience for working with three of the rule types (reuse, unresolved references, queues) when an export to pad is initiated the user is prompted whether they'd like to use the rules wizard the rules wizard takes the user through a multi step process to setup rules for reuse, unresolved references, and queues in each of these steps the user can make selections using realtime picklists, and is given guidance on what the rules will do the user's changes will be saved to the rules table so this wizard can be considered an alternative user interface for the rules table rules csv the rules csv is a more primitive and detailed table, in the form of a csv file, in which any rules changes can be performed from the rules table page, at the top right click advanced > export rules to csv to export a csv file containing all the rules from all the projects after making modifications per the information provided in subsequent articles import the csv file using advanced > import rules from csv to incorporate those modifications to the rules table comparing the user interfaces the three user interfaces represent an evolution of capability rules csv is largely a database representation of the rules and is therefore very detailed and not very user friendly this was the first user interface for rules and involves exporting a csv file, modifying it, then re importing the rules table was introduced to make this easier by providing an in tool and more user friendly interface to work with rules lastly the rules wizard was released which guided the user through a rules enabled export it provides guidance information on what the rule settings do, real time pickers to make configuring the rules easier, and displays only those rules that are relevant for the current export this is summarized in the table below intended for advantages limitations \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \h rules from all projects at once\ \not user friendly\ no validation while using (only on import) cannot delete mappings only overwrite or add