Rules provide a way to implement business logic for assets configured in your Axeda® Platform. You can configure rules that define a set of criteria to be evaluated on the Platform. (This differs from Usage rules. See the Usage application for an explanation of Usage rules.)
Notes: This topic explains
the style of rules available prior to release 6.0 of Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications.
For information about the new rules functionality, refer to Expression
Rule definition and State Machine
definition.
When viewing rules in a Platform with Delegated Administration enabled,
the names of rules may have prefixes; for details, refer to Names
of Objects in DA Units.
Also note that
Delegated Admin visibility restrictions and privileges are NOT fully supported
for Rules. See Supported
Objects for Delegated Administration for more information.
A rule identifies one or more actions to execute in response to a trigger message in the Platform. Rules can be defined for a selected condition type, for specific assets (as specified by asset name, asset group, or model), and for selected user groups.
A rule evaluates to either true or false. When the rule is "true", the Platform executes all actions associated with that rule for selected assets and asset groups.
Types of rules available for configuration include the following:
o Agent Command Status - This rule evaluates to True when the Platform receives a specified status message (SOAP message) from the Axeda® Agent running on the asset.
o Alarm - This rule evaluates to True when the Platform detects the selected alarm for the associated asset(s).
o Case - The Platform can evaluate rules of this type when cases are created or modified and they contain the specified attributes. For example, you can create a Case rule that evaluates to true when the Platform creates a new case for owner "Sam Smith", or that evaluates to true when the server detects an existing case that is assigned a new owner.
o Connectivity - Available only when the Platform is running in redundant-gateways mode, this rule allows you to set up actions that will run when the specified Connectivity state change occurs. The rule monitors changes in connectivity between the assets and the Axeda® Gateways assigned to manage it and/or between one of the Gateways and the Platform.
o Custom - A Custom rule (comprised of a custom Java class) is evaluated as an Alarm, Data Expression, Event, or Registration rule, depending upon its configuration. The actions for this rule execute based on the results of executing the code of the custom object or Java class. The Custom rule type enables you to create custom rules specific for the needs of your business operations. Contact Axeda Technical Support for assistance if needed.
o Data Expression - The Platform evaluates rules of this type each time the configured asset(s) send data messages; the rule evaluates to true when the expression evaluates to true (a non-zero value).
o Event - This rule evaluates to True when the Platform receives an event for the associated asset(s).
o File Upload - This rule evaluates to True when the Platform determines that a file with predefined characteristics (for example, a file hint) has been uploaded to the server from an asset.
o Maintenance Event - This rule evaluates to True when one of the following conditions is True:
o Is the Counter value greater than the Target, Reminder 1, or Reminder 2?
Is the Current Time greater than the sum of the Target Date and Target/Reminder1/Reminder2?
o Maintenance Item - This rule evaluates to True when one of the following conditions for the selected maintenance item is true:
o Is the Counter value greater than the value specified when the rule was configured?
Is the number of days from the last reset date to the current date greater than the value specified when the rule was configured (Time)?
o Missing Asset - This rule evaluates to True when the Platform detects that an asset is missing and offline.
o Registration - This rule evaluates to True whenever an asset comes online and sends registration information to the Platform. You can configure the rule so that it is run only the very first time the asset comes online (and the server creates an entry for that asset in the Platform).
Returned Asset - This rule evaluates to True when the Platform detects that a missing asset has returned and is again online.
Scheduled - This rule is used to set up a Custom rule that executes based on a specified time and date. When the Scheduled rule is true (that is, the date and time defined in the schedule is reached), the related Custom rule is evaluated: if that Custom rule evaluates to true, then the related actions are executed.
Privileges for modifying rule properties are assigned to user groups. You assign user groups to a rule when you create the specific rule. You create rules within the Rule wizard.
In the Rules module on the Asset dashboard (Axeda® Service application), you can view and enable or disable the rules configured for a specific asset. The expression settings for a Data Expression rule can be overridden in the Service application; if overwritten, the new parameters are saved to the Platform with the rules configuration.
For information about security for the Rules (referred to as "old style"), refer to Security for Objects in Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications and for information about security for these objects when Delegated Administration is enabled, refer to Security for Objects in Delegated Administration Units.
In a Platform with Delegated Administration enabled, the names of rules may be displayed with prefixes. For details, refer to Names of Objects in DA Units.