Adding and configuring selection rules

You can add selection rules to the Configuration Specification editor.

Adding selection rules

About this task

You can add rules in several ways. Complete one of these procedures to add a selection rule.

  • To select one or multiple items from the Design Navigator tree, complete these steps:
    1. Select one or several entries in the Design Navigator tree.
    2. Right-click, and then from the menu, select Add Design Rule.
    3. Provide the requested information and specifications.
    The rules are added to the Rules pane, where you can select to apply them.
  • To add an entire design hierarchy to the Rules pane, complete these steps:
    1. Select an entry from the Design Navigator tree.
    2. Right-click, and from the menu, select Add Hierarchy Rule. The Hierarchy Specification opens.
    3. Specify the descend controls for the design hierarchy.
  • To add a rule from the tool bar: click the Add Rule icon Add Rule icon; then, provide the requested information and specifications.
  • To add a rule from the Edit menu: on the menu bar, click Edit, and from the menu, select Add Rule; then, provide the requested information and specifications.

Configuring selection rules

Procedure

Rules or sets of rules that the Rule pane includes can be configured by using the version selectors that are available from the Rule field and menu on the toolbar. The Rule field and menu offers the following version selectors to choose from.

  1. Open the Rule menu by clicking the down arrow next to the Rule field, as shown in the following illustration:
    Rule field
  2. Choose one of these selectors:
    Latest

    Use this option on the selected designs in the Rule pane to configure its existing version selection rules to use the LATEST version.

    Now
    Use this option to select the version of the design that is the latest for today, at this moment.
    Version Selector
    Use this option to specify an exact version or label that pertains to a design. When you click Version Selector, a field is displayed in which you enter the version or label. If a match for the entered version or label criteria is found, the design version is made available in the user's workspace after you click Save, with a check mark beside the field.
    Time
    Use this rule to modify the definition of the latest version. You specify a date and time in the fields that are displayed when you select this option. The resulting rule causes the last version that was created before the specified time to be selected. The time rule is silently ignored when applied to non-latest versions.
    Branch Selector
    Use this option to specify a branch name whose latest version is to be selected and made available in your workspace after you save. You can also specify this rule if you want to create and work under new branches; however, use this rule carefully, because branching can introduce merging issues.
    When you save a selection rule, customized version-selection rules are written to the VersionVault configuration specification, and the specified design versions are made available in the workspace. These rules are persistent, and you can see the previously set of custom rules in the Configuration Specification editor the next time you open it. Errors, if any, during save operations are reported in detail in the Command Interpreter Window (CIW).