To Configure a Revision Rule Set

A revision rule set lets the user define a pattern for naming object revisions. The revision rules are applied to the template, or in some cases to the class, and apply to the object instance as long as it is a member of that class and was instantiated from that template. When objects are created or revised based on the template the revision rule is applied to each new and subsequent revision.

Open the System Admin tab (View > System Administration).
Set the default scope.
Click the Maintain List Values icon .
Select Revision Rule Sets. The Revision Rule Sets tab opens in the Content pane.
To add a new rule set, go to the next available row and do the following:
1. Click in the Rule Set Name field and enter a name for the rule set.
2. Click in the Description field and enter a description.
3. Click in the Rule Syntax column and enter the rule syntax.
4. Turn on Enforce Pattern if you want to force selection of a revision from the list of available revisions in the pattern.
5. Turn on Use Next if you want to force selection of the next available revision value in the pattern.
6. Click the Save icon at the end of the row.
Note: Turning off both Enforce Pattern and Use Next presents the user with a list of choices on the New Revision screen, letting the user select the next revision number from the list or enter their own revision number.

The rule syntax can contain four types of rules: fixed lists, masks, ranges, and patterns. Certain combinations of these four are also permitted. Rules are separated by semicolons.

Fixed Lists

A fixed list contains all available revisions for an object separated by semicolons as shown in the following example:

The above syntax produces the following revisions: 0, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 0X, 0X1, 0X2, 1A, and 1B.

Masks

The second available syntax for a revision rule set is a numbering mask, which uses numeric and alphabetic data placeholders (#, $) similar to a simple template mask. You can use # for numeric values or $ for alphabetic values.

The above produces the following revisions: A-01, A-02, A-03, A-04, through A-99.

Multiple masks are also supported. For example, A-#;B-# is a valid rule syntax. Using this example syntax the following revisions are available: A-1 through A-9, and B-1 through B-9.

Range

The range syntax is used to specify a minimum and maximum value of revisions. Multiple ranges can be combined as shown in the example below:

The above example would produce these revisions: A-01 through A-05, and B-01 through B-05.

Note: When using the range syntax, if Enforce Pattern and Use Next are turned on, only the next available revision for each configured range is displayed.

Pattern

The pattern syntax provides the ability to have repeating revision numbers with one or more masks, as shown in the following example. Patterns can use either # for numeric values or $ for alphabetic values, but not both within the same pattern. Individual elements within the pattern are joined by a vertical bar. The same number of mask characters must exist in each pattern value. For example, PATTERN[#.A|##.A] is invalid.

The above produces the following revisions: 1.A, 1.B, 1.C, 1.CX through 9.A, 9.B, 9.C, 9.CX.