This is a high level category containing other specific rule points. All of the rule points under this category are Expression/Value based rule points. This means that all of the rules defined under this category will evaluate to a value. The subrule points correspond to the value types which are returned. Rules defined under the Expressions category and sub-categories are designed to create reusable subrules which define expressions and logic to be reused throughout all of the other rule points. Rules defined under Expressions are not typically called directly by the application, but are instead a library where you can define common logic and expressions.
All Boolean subrule points define expressions which evaluate to a Boolean, true/false value. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema. Use this rule point to define true/false subrules for common tests. For example, you might define a named subrule for the Pole feature class called “Has Guying” which evaluates to true or false, depending on whether any guying is attached to the pole.
All Integer subrule points define expressions which evaluate to an integer numeric value. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema. Use this rule point to define standard expressions which evaluate to a count of features. For example, you might define a named subrule called “Secondary Positions” which evaluates to the number of secondary cable positions required for a LinkBox or other Device.
All Real subrule points define expressions which evaluate to a decimal, floating-point value. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema. Use this rule point to define any non-integer numeric values which may result in fractional values. For example, you might define a named subrule for the Conductor feature class called “Total Length” which adds together various lengths using ratio factors and other math operators and functions.
All Text subrule points define expressions which evaluate to text values. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema. Use this rule point to define any special text needed for reuse in the application, based on particular features and data. For example, you might define a named subrule for all electric feature classes called “No Primary Error” which defines a standard error message including special attribute and text concatenation and is reused in many different validation rules.
All Feature Identifier subrule points define expressions which evaluate to text values. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema.
The Feature Identifier rule point is called explicitly by the application to generate an identifier which is used in most places where a feature is identified by name. For example, in the Quick Info panel or the Material List, the text used to describe the feature uses this rule point to generate the displayed text. If no rule is defined for a particular feature, the system uses an internal default which displays the feature class caption, the FID, and the model group or model name of the feature. By specifying a rule here, you can override the system default and format a custom identifier using any number of additional feature attributes or other text concatenation.
Many rule points are directly related to Design Validation and Auto Validation. Validation rule points that generate messages, warnings, and errors are located in the Validation and Material sections of the Rules Configuration dialog box and in the Validation sections for each analysis operation.
Automatic validation is controlled in AutoCAD Utility Design Options.
If Auto Validation for a particular operation is set to "Block On Alerts", any errors or non-ignored warnings displayed in the Validation Results panel of the Dashboard prevent the application from running further auto validation functionality on the problem feature. The "Enabled" setting indicates whether the Auto Validation will be run at all.
To run Validation rules, you must enable General Validation in the Options dialog box.
If a "Report error" rule is defined for a feature in rules configuration, the output of that rule might block subsequent Auto Validation if "General Validation" is set to "Block On Alerts".
For more information, see To Specify Application Options.
The Validation rule point is called by the Auto Validation system for the "General Validation" item. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema.
This is a sequential/action rule point and the various report-related rule activities can be used to generate Validation Results messages, warnings, and errors, as well as resolution workflows.
The Material rule point is called by the Auto Validation system for the "Material" item. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema.
This is a sequential/action rule point and the "Add material" rule activity can be used to generate material list items. Also, the various report related rule activities can be used to generate Validation Results messages, warnings, and errors, as well as resolution workflows. However, it is recommended that validation logic be defined in the Validation rule point if possible.
The Material Costing rule point is used by the material system to generate a value for the "Cost" attribute for material list items. The subrule points are organized by the categories present in the material catalog. The costing rule applied to each category is used to calculate the Cost for corresponding material list items for each category.
The Annotation rule point is used by the Insert Callout feature by choosing a specified callout. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema.
This is a sequential/action rule point and the “Choose callout” rule activity can be used to select a callout for Insert Callout function. The available callouts are configured in the Industry Model Configuration dialog box. For more information, see To Configure a Callout.
The Sizing rule point is used to generate the list of valid model names displayed as resolution items in the Validation Results panel. It is also used for analysis and other application functionality to leverage the sizing rules in order to filter out a valid set of models for a feature. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema.
The Sizing rules are sequential/action rules, but the actions consist of various Add Filtering rule activities. Each Add Filtering rule activity appends a new query criteria which is then used to query/filter the Model table for a given feature. It also provides a Match Section rule activity which specifies explicit Or/And concatenated operations. It allows the nesting of Add Filtering activities which can be used to generate grouped sets of Where clause operations using a specified operator: Or/And.
The Style rule point is used for applying a style to a specified feature. The subrule points consist of a full hierarchy of the utility domain class schema.
This is a sequential/action rule point and the Choose Style rule activity can be used to select specified style which is configured in the Industry Model Configuration dialog box. For more information, see About Styling Feature Classes.
The One Line rule point is used to define the styles for line and point features in the one line diagram and determine which features will be added in the one line diagram. The styles are defined in the Industry Model Configuration, which are the same as the ones used in the Style rule.
A Subrule defined in the Style rule point can be used in the One Line rule of the same Feature Class, and vice versa.
The Connectivity rule point allows user configurable logic for determining allowed connectivity, disallowed connectivity, soft split, hard split, disallowed merging and disallowed tapping behaviors. The logic result is used while digitizing and editing in Info tool. And the connectivity behavior and related constraint message will be shown on the Connection Tooltip and Feature Info.
The Auto Feature Create rule point allows user configurable logic for creating features when draw a line to connect or tap another line, or at the end of lines. This rule can be defined for all line Feature Classes like Segment and Conductor.