Rules turn a drawn window into a bill of materials and a price. Each rule belongs to one series (or
sub-routine) and says, for one level of the product (frame, sash, glass, the whole unit): add this part, offer this
option, use this matrix, send the following parts to this station. Rules are edited on the series’ Rules tab.
This section gives the order to write them in; the linked how-to sections give the steps for each kind.

Before you start

• The series and its sub-routines exist (Set up a new series).
• The parts, options and matrices the rules will use exist. A rule stores their ID: anything made later has to be
  picked again.
• Lines and stations exist (Set up production lines and stations).

A first rule set, in this order

1. Open OJ Setup → PRODUCT SETUP → Series, select the series, open the Rules tab.
   New adds a rule at the end; Insert puts a copy directly below the selected rule. Rules run in list
   order, so place them where they belong.
2. Production line and station near the top: a set production line rule, then a set station
   rule before each group of parts for that station. How to send parts to a station.
3. Options: an Option Choice rule for each option the series asks.
   How to offer an option in a series.
4. Profiles: frame, sash, mullion and bead profiles with their cut ends, welds and size adjustments.
   How to add a profile.
5. Parts: hardware, screws, labour, with a quantity or a formula.
   How to add a part.
6. Parts picked by colour or answer: Part Matrix or Profile Matrix rules.
   How to pick a part with a matrix.
7. Shared groups: one Rule Segment rule calls a Rules Sub-Routine; give it a test to run the whole
   group only for one answer. How to call a sub-routine.
8. Machining and paint if you need them: How to add machining operations,
   How to add paint cost.
9. Tests: tick Has Test on a rule and add rows in Rule Tests to make it apply only for some
   answers, sizes or openings. How to make a rule depend on an answer.

Things that catch people out

• Start Date and End Date are not enforced. A rule past its end date still runs. To stop a rule, untick
  Active.
• A set station rule applies to every part rule after it, until the next set station rule. If you untick
  Active on a set station rule, the parts below it silently go to the previous station.
• Comment rules (type 10) are headings only. They make the list easier to read; they do not switch the
  rules under them on or off. To switch a group on and off, put it in a sub-routine and call it with a tested Rule
  Segment rule.
• Imperial formulas use inches. In a series set to Imperial, W and H in a quantity or size formula are
  inches; fill the imperial formula box. Metric formulas use the metric box.
• Rule order matters for setters and for percent rules that act on the rules above them.

Check it worked

• Draw a test item in the series for each opening type and answer the options. Open its bill of materials: every
  profile and part you expect is there, once, with the right length and quantity, on the right station.
• Change one answer and check that only the parts that depend on it change.
• Run the full check in Check a new setup works.

Background: Rules — how they work, Levels &
binding, Writing a rule — a checklist, Mental
Model, Formulas, Rule Tests by Level.