How Can We Help?
There is no step-by-step rule trace. The reliable check is to build a test item and look at its
bill of materials (BOM): which parts came out, how long they are cut, how many, and which station and line they went
to. Then compare with the rules.
What you can check
| Check | Where |
|---|---|
| Did the part appear, with the right quantity and cut length? | The item’s BOM view. |
| Which station and line a part went to | BOM view: select the line; Prod. Line and Station show the numbers. |
| Which rule made it | Each saved BOM line keeps the rule number (and station and line). The BOM view can be sorted by rule number. Rule numbers repeat in every series and sub-routine, so rule 50 may be in 269 or in 344 — check which series or sub-routine made sense for that part. Which BOM column shows the rule number on screen is not confirmed in this manual. |
| Glass size | The glass lines of the BOM; compare with the opening minus the clearances. |
Why is a part missing (or extra)? Check in this order
- Active is ticked on the rule. (Start and End dates do not matter; they are not checked.)
- The rule sits in a sub-routine: is the calling Rule Segment rule active, and does its test fit?
- The Level is the piece you think (All Frame vs a sash; a mullion under the right parent).
- Every test fits: the answer is in the test’s list, Is Not is the right way round, And/Or and brackets are
right. A new answer or a new opening style is not in old test lists until you add it. - A Comment heading above it does nothing; it neither turns the rule on nor off.
- Quantity Type matches the field filled in; an expression is ignored under Value, and an imperial
series uses the imperial expression. - For a matrix rule: the cell for that answer holds a part id.
- Two copies: two rules (or two sub-routine calls) whose tests both fit.
A good way to test a change
- Before changing anything, build (or keep) one item that shows the problem, and note its BOM.
- Make the rule change and Save.
- Build the same item again (same size, same answers) and compare the two BOMs line by line.
- If the rule depends on an answer, build one item with that answer and one without — the part should appear
only in the first.
Some rules do not make a BOM line of their own: options, clearances, station and line rules, sub-routine calls and
comments. You see their effect on other lines (a size, a station, the parts a sub-routine adds) or on the item’s
questions.
Wrong station?
Look up the list for the nearest set station rule above the part (inside the same sub-routine, or before the
sub-routine call). Check it is active and its test fits — see the 2026-10-27 case in
How to send parts to a production station or line.
Wrong size?
For glass and sashes, list the clearances (sash size): the last matching
clearance on a side wins, and on an imperial series the imperial value is the one used. For profiles, check
Width Adjust / Height Adjust on the rule.
list them for a series, including every sub-routine it calls, the clearances and which station each part rule falls
under. Ask, for example, “which rules put the head profile on the 3501 frame” or “which station does
rule 200 of series 361 go to”.