Chapter 8
Defining Configuration Rules & Constraints
From previous steps in the configuration model building process, your configuration model should already contain information about the Parts and Part Classes that comprise your Products. This information is maintained in SC Config Manager's Product Definition.
A Product Definition's three classifications of Parts - Included Parts, Optional Parts, and Requires Choice - are useful to describe the relationships between Products and the Part/Part Classes they contain. However, for many Products, there are additional relationships that exist between its Parts. These Part-to-Part relationships are based on the dependencies and conflicts that can arise between Parts when customers make Part choices during product configuration sessions.
Rules are logical statements that describe how Part-to-Part relationships work in the Product Definition.
Figure 8- 1. Product
Definition and Part-to-Part Relationships
Rules provide your configuration model with the logic that the SC Config Engine needs to:
- Recognize when
Parts conflicts and dependencies occur
- Resolve conflicts
and negotiate dependencies between Parts by ensuring that needed
supporting parts are included.
Rules are created, viewed and edited in SC Config Manager's Rules View.