irAuthor Overview
irAuthor is the primary tool for business analysts to create and manage their application rule sets. It provides the interface for a user to manipulate the business logic required for calculations, aggregate functions, form and field validation, data lookups, and much more. The authored rule definitions and events can be easily navigated and managed by non-technical personnel and are seamlessly integrated with the target application.
Launching irAuthor
Click on the shortcut to irAuthor that was created in your Start Menu during installation:
- Start Menu -> All Programs -> InRule -> irAuthor
User Interface
At the very top of the screen is the Quick Access Toolbar. Below that is the File menu and a Tab control with a Ribbon on each tab. The first screen you will see is the Start page which contains links to common functions, recently opened rule applications, and other helpful resources.
The Quick Access Toolbar has buttons for commonly used functions, such as saving the rule application, navigating back/forward, and options to customize the toolbar.
The File Menu has options to navigate to the Start Page, loading/saving rule applications, closing the currently opened rule application, as well as configuring extensions and options. If you select Help, it will display information about the specific version/build of irAuthor, which is important information to provide when contacting InRule Support for help, and will also have helpful links to various resources such as the help files and licensing information.
The Home tab has a ribbon which gives you access to functionality pertaining to the rule application, navigation, clipboard, reports, etc. The ribbon can be customized, which will be explained later.
If centralized authentication is enabled, an additional "Login" button will be visible on the Home tab. This button can be used to log into/log out from a centralized authentication session.
The Catalog tab has a ribbon that provides access to functionality pertaining to the catalog, such as checking in/out, getting the latest version, etc.
If you right-click on any of the icons in a Ribbon, you will be given the option of adding that icon to the Quick Access Toolbar. If you want to remove an icon from the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on the icon and you will be given the option of removing it.
Once a rule application is open in irAuthor (either from creating a new one or loading an existing one), you will see the Navigation Pane on the left side, Content Pane on the right side, and potentially several tool windows at the bottom.
The Navigation Pane provides access to the various components of a rule application, allows you to navigate to each one, enables the addition of new entries within each component, and may have additional options if you right-click on any item. The components of a rule application consist of Rule Flows, Rules, Vocabulary, Entities, User Defined Functions, Data, End Points, and Schemas. The currently selected component can be resized, and in doing so, icons for the other components will move from large icons to smaller ones appearing at the bottom.
The Content Pane will show details of whatever has been selected in the Navigation Pane, and may have options to edit the data, as well as other links and relevant functionality:
The Tool Windows allows you to enter additional information and settings that are associated with the particular item that has been selected in the Content Pane. Most elements will have the Description, Notes, and Attributes tool windows available, just below the Content Pane.
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