Numbers, Descriptions, and Rules
You can create rules that generate the identification numbers for several types of objects when they are created: items, change orders, and new item requests. You can also create rules that generate descriptions for items.
Generating numbers and descriptions with rules requires the following actions:
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Creating rule sets
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Creating rules
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Completing associations
Creating Rule Sets
You must associate the rule sets containing number generation rules with the item classes, change order types, or new item request types for those objects.
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You must select the Assignment type for the rule set, because you are assigning a new value to an object's number (or description).
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In the rule set, the association type must correspond to the object, according to the following table.
Object to Be Numbered
Association Type for the Rule Set
Item
Item class
Change order
Change type
New item request
New item request
Note:Although you can also associate a rule set with an attribute group, you cannot generate numbers for an attribute group.
You activate a rule set by adding it to an item master rule set.
Creating Rules
The rules that generate numbers or descriptions must produce appropriate values.
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The return type of the rule must correspond to the object being numbered, according to the following table.
Object to Be Numbered
Return Type for the Rule
Item (number)
Item number
Item (description)
Item description
Change order
Change order number
New item request
New item request number
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The definition of the rule must generate a number (or description) as the return value.
Completing Associations
You must associate the object with the rule set of the rule that generates the number or description.
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The rule set must already exist and contain a valid rule.
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The number generation method (or description generation method ) of the object must be set to Rule Generated. The location for setting the generation method varies by object.
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After the number generation method is set to Rule Generated, the associated rule set name must be set to the rule set that contains the generation rule that you created.
Note:In an item class, you can use one rule set for item number generation, and a different rule set for item description generation.