1. Modeling Configurations for SCM
  2. Use Spreadsheets to Manage Your Rules

Use Spreadsheets to Manage Your Rules

You can use Application Development Framework Desktop Integration (ADFDI) with a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to manage rules across models and environments.

Here are some of ways that you can manage your rules.

What You Do Description
Search Manage rules for a draft model. Search for the model by its name, across workspaces, or by the name of the workspace that contains the model.
Create Create a rule for the model that you searched for, download it to an ADFDI spreadsheet, add details to the rule, then upload it.
Update Update a rule that's in the model that you searched for, download it to an ADFDI spreadsheet, modify the rule, then upload it.

Use these attributes in the spreadsheet.

Attribute Can Update? Description
Model Yes

Name of the model that contains your rule.

You can't create a new model this way.
Workspace Yes

Name of the workspace that contains a draft of the model.

You can't create a new workspace this way.
Name Yes

Name of the rule.

If you enter a new name, then your upload will create a new rule in the model, workspace, and folder.

You can't change the name of an existing rule this way.

You can't use a rule name that already exists in another draft of the model.
Description Yes Description of the rule.
Folder Path Yes

Name and path of the folder that contains your rule.

If you enter a new path, then the upload creates a new folder under the top Rules folder for the model.

Use this format for a new subfolder:

subfolder/sub-subfolder/...
Type Yes Type of the rule. You can use only the Statement Rule type.
Rule Class Yes

Class that the rule is currently in. To change it, select one of:

  • Constraint
  • Default
  • Search Decision
Enabled Yes Specify whether to enable the rule. Select Yes or No.
Rule Text Yes

CDL text that defines the rule.

Make sure you enclose each node name with single quotation marks (' '). If you begin your rule with a node name, then add another set of single quotation marks immediately before the name. For example:

'''MyNodeName'
Rule Status No

Oracle Configurator validates your rule text and displays the result in the Rule Status column:

  • Modified
  • Valid
  • Error

Configurator does the same validation on a rule that you upload and on a rule that you create in the Configurator Models work area.

If validation fails, the upload will still upload your rule but it will be in an error status.

Status No

ADFDI validates data in the spreadsheet and displays the result in the Status column.

If the Status is Insert Failed, then click No when you're prompted to delete the changes from your update, then click Status Viewer to examine details about the error.
End Date No Date when Configurator will no longer apply this rule.
Error Message No Describes why your validation failed.

ADFDI and Configurator updates your rule after every upload.

To see you changes, you might need to close and then open the Rules page.

Try It

Assume you already imported the zCZ_CAR4DRSDN model from the Product Information Management work area, and Configurator created a workspace for it. For details, see Manage Your Workspace.

You now need to use ADFDI to manage rules in the CAR4DRSDN participant of your model.

  1. Go to the Configurator Models work area.
  2. Open the zCZ_CAR4DRSDN Model Creation Workspace.
  3. In the Workspace Participants area, click CAR4DRSDN.
  4. On the Edit Configurator Model page, click Tasks, then notice it has a File-Based Data Management area. You use the tasks in this area to manage your model through ADFDI.
  5. Click Manage Rules.
  6. In the save dialog that your browser displays, save the ManageStatementRules.xlsx file to any location. For example, assume you already created a folder named C:my_rules. Download it to the my_rules folder.
  7. Open Windows File Explorer, navigate to the my_rules folder, then open ManageStatementRules.xlsx.
  8. In Microsoft Excel, In the dialog that displays, click Yes to connect to the ADFDI plug-in. Use the same user name and password that you use to log into Oracle Applications and to access the Configurator Models work area.
  9. Make sure you're in the Manage Rules worksheet, then enter the values in the first row immediately under the column headings.
    Attribute Value
    Model CAR4DRSDN
    Workspace zCZ_CAR4DRSDN (V1) Model Creation Workspace
    Name Rule 1
    Description Rule 1
    Folder Path Empty
    Type Statement Rule
    Rule Class Default
    Rule Text

    ''CAR4DRSDN'.'CAREXTOPT'.'CARWHEELS'.'CARWHEELS01' EXCLUDES 'CAR4DRSDN'.'CAREXTOPT'.'CARWHEELS'.'CARWHEELS02''

    You must use single quotation marks (' ') to enclose this text string. Don't use double quotation marks (" ").
    Enabled Yes

    For the Type, Rule Class, and Enabled attributes, click the cell, then use the down arrow to select the value.

  10. Click Create or Update.
  11. Go back to your workspace in the Configurator Models work area.
  12. Click the Rules tab.
  13. Verify that the tree includes the rules that you added from the worksheet.

For details about how to use ADFDI, see Overview of Using Spreadsheets to Manage Supplemental Structures.

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