Back Forward Function rules
Completing the Create New or Save As form
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Records can be created in various ways. You can add a brand new record to your application or copy an existing one. Existing rules can be specialized by creating a copy into a specific ruleset, against a different class or (in some cases) with a set of circumstance definitions. Data instances may be copied but do not support specialization as they are not versioned.

Based on your use case, the Create, Save As or Specialization form is used to create the record. The number of fields and available options vary by record type. Start by familiarizing yourself with the generic layout of these forms and their common fields:

This help topic then identifies the key parts and options that are applicable to the record type you are creating.

Create a Function rule by selecting Function from the Technical class.

NOTE: Create a library rule before creating functions for the library.

Key parts:

A Function rule has two key parts:

Field

Description
Library Name

Select the name of an existing library rule in the ruleset that is also to contain this function.

Identifier

Enter a name for a function. Begin the name with a letter and use only letters and digits. The name must be a valid Java identifier; see How to enter a Java identifier.

Overloading functions

You can choose a function name that already exists in that library (or other libraries of that name), if the type, order, and number of the new function's parameters are not the same as the type, order, and number of the existing function's parameters. The function name and parameter types together are known as the signature.

To overload a function, open the original function and use the Save As toolbar button. You can't use the New toolbar tool for this.

If one function has multiple signatures, the system generates a hash function of the parameter types to distinguish them internally; this can result in long function names. When selecting a function, you can generally choose the one with the simpler name.

Internal key format

To support function name overloading, the internal format of the function rule key incorporates the parameter names, order, and types.

Rule resolution

When searching for function rules, the system filters candidate rules based on a requestor's RuleSet list of RuleSets and versions.

Time-qualified and circumstance-qualified rule resolution features are not available for function rules. The class hierarchy is not searched.

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