IMOS - Task & Alert Rule Set List

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From the Task & Alert Rule Set List, you can view Task & Alert Rule Sets. Rule Sets are made up of rules that define warning Alerts, error Alerts, or Tasks to appear in the Tasks and Alerts panel of Estimate, Cargo/VC In COA (Alerts only), Cargo/VC In, Time Charter (TC) In/Out, Cargo/VC In Booking, Voyage Manager workspaces, and Transaction Data Entry and Journal Entry forms.

On the Data Center menu , under Other, click Task and Alert Rule Set List.

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Creating a New Rule Set

To create a new Rule Set:

1. On the Task & Alert Rule Set List, select +.

2. Complete the fields on the Task & Alert Rule Set form to define the Rule Set.

   • Select the form or object that the Rule Set Applies To. Tasks and Alerts can appear:

     • On a form:

       • Cargo/VC In

       • COA: Owner is the COA Coordinator, and Effective From/To dates are compared with the COA Start date.

       • Time Charter

       • Voyage: The Voyage Manager and any linked Cargo/VC In Booking.

       • Voyage Estimate

       • Journal Entry

       • Transaction Data Entry

     • On any form that includes an object.
       Note: Tasks and Alerts will only be displayed on forms. For example, a Vessel is an object, which means that you can create rules with Vessel fields, but validation will take place in one of the forms such as the Voyage Manager or Estimate rather than on the Vessel itself.

       • Address Book

       • Cargo Name

       • Port

       • Vessel

   • Category: Select a Task & Alert Rule Set Category.

   • Effective From and Effective To: These fields are based on Voyage Commencing and Voyage Completing dates. For Tasks and Alerts to appear, Effective From and Effective To must be within a voyage date range.

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Adding Rules

Rules consist of Conditions (or Groups of Conditions) and Results.

• Each Condition consists of a Variable, an Operator, and a Value, for example: Use this Rule if X is on or before Y.

  • Groups of Conditions are evaluated together, like a part of a formula enclosed in parentheses, for example: Use this Rule if (X = Y or X = Z).

• Results can be either Alerts (either Errors or Warnings) or Tasks. Each line in the Results grid consists of a Result, a Type, and a Value.

To add rules: 

1. On the Task & Alert Rule Set form, select Edit Rules.

2. Enter a Name and a Description.

3. Under Use this rule if, add Conditions and/or Groups of Conditions. For each Condition, select the following:

   • Variable (up to 64 characters): Relevant to most freight contracts; determines the Operators and Values available.

     • If it can be defined by a Data Center list, the Values available will come from it, and it will autocomplete. For example, in Cargo Rule Sets, for specific cargoes, Cargo Type will be the selection list for the Values. Otherwise, the Value field will be free text.

     • If it could refer to an item in a list, the items are numbered sequentially, and the numbers can be selected in a field next to the Variable name. For example, in Voyage Rule Sets, the second Ops Coordinator would be Ops Coordinator 2. To use any of the possible Values, for example, any Ops Coordinator, leave this field blank. The field is only available when an indexable Variable is selected, that is, one that has a one-to-many relationship with a Cargo, VC In, Estimate, TC, or Voyage. For example, a Voyage may only have one TCO Code, but it might have multiple Ops Coordinators.

     • Boolean expressions - standard mathematical rules, which means that within a single level, AND will be evaluated before OR e.g. Voyage status = Scheduled OR Commenced AND Invoice Type = Rebillable, then this rule will always be true if the voyage is scheduled, because the AND gets evaluated first and applies to voyage status=commenced AND (next the invoice related criteria). The correct structure would be:
       Voyage status = Scheduled AND Inv Type = Rebillable
       OR Voyage status = Commenced AND Inv Type = Rebillable 

     • Any custom elements created in Data Dictionary appear when the tables to which they are added, or joined tables, are selected in a rule.

     • Tables that are joined appear at the top of the drop-down menu; they start with > end with ... (for example, > Vessel...).
       Note: Joins are not available for Cargo Rule Sets.

       • If a join is one-to-many, a drop-down menu appears to the left of the variable. Depending on the value selected, for the Rule Set to evaluate to true, the condition must be true for Any (default), All, or No records in the join.

     • For Cargo Rule Sets only:

       • User-Defined Fields appear, preceded by UDF (Cargo).

       • Boolean variables appear (those that can be True or False).

     • Other Rules in the contract appear, preceded by Rule:. These can be used to efficiently have multiple Rules depend on the same set of base variables, but with variations.

   • Operator

   • Value

4. To add, insert, or delete Conditions or Groups, do one of the following:

   • Click ... to the right of Conditions/Groups and then click Add Condition, Insert Condition, Add Group, Insert Group, or Delete Condition.

   • Click Add Condition or Add Group under the list of Conditions.

5. A new Condition or Group is added to the previous one; to change from and to or, click and to the left of the condition and then click or. To change back, click or and then click and.

6. Conditions will be read in sequence. To change the sequence of Conditions or Groups, click ... to the right of Conditions/Groups and then click Move Condition Up, Move Condition Down, Move Group Up, or Move Group Down.

7. Stop processing if true: Select to stop processing when a rule is true. Otherwise, the entire table will be read to find all true rules. The results from rules evaluating to true will be stored on the contract as saved values.

8. Run this rule once per (for Rule Sets that apply to TC, Voyage, and Estimate only): Select one of the following:

   • By default, the Applies To object is selected. For example, on a Voyage Rule, Voyage is selected by default; for each Voyage for which the Rule evaluates to true, the Results are generated.

   • You can select a one-to-many join from the drop-down menu. For example, on a Voyage Rule, you can select VoyageBunkerLifting; for each Bunker Lifting for which the Rule evaluates to true, the Results are generated. On each resulting Task, you must complete the Generate one task per field.
     Note: This option requires the Custom Expression Editor, which will be available soon.

9. Enter the Results.

   • Result: Determines the Types and Values available. Options are:

     • Alert:

       • Type: Determines how the message appears on the Tasks panel.

         • Error - Prevent Saving: Cannot be acknowledged; prevents form saving until the error is corrected
           Note: On TC contracts, these types of errors prevent you from saving the contract, but you can still raise TC invoices.

         •  Error: Cannot be acknowledged

         •  Warning - Not Acknowledgeable: Cannot be acknowledged

         •  Warning - Acknowledgeable: Can be acknowledged

       • Value: Free-text message.

       • Owner (for Rule Sets that apply to TC, Voyage, or Estimate only): Assigns the Alert to a role, but you can reassign it by editing the Alert. When set to Default, the Alert is assigned to the Rule Set Owner.

     • Task (for Rule Sets that apply to Cargo/VC In, TC, Voyage, and Estimate only):
       

       • Type: Task Category.
         After you select the Type, complete the Task form: Right-click the Task line and then click Edit Task.
         

         • When rule is no longer true, update task status to: Select Do Not Update (default) or a status (Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled, or Follow Up).

         • Generate one task per: This field is required if, on the Rule form, Run this rule once per is set to a one-to-many join. It defines the unique ID, for each of which Results are generated.
           Note: This field requires the Custom Expression Editor, which will be available soon.

           1. Click the field to open the Custom Expression Editor.

           2. Start typing the name of the field that you want to use as the unique ID. For example, for a Voyage Rule run once per Bunker Lifting, you can use LiftingID as the unique ID for each lifting.

           3. As you type, a drop-down menu appears; you must select an option that starts with _RunOnceObjects. For example, select _RunOnceObjects.Voyage_VoyageBunkerLifting.LiftingID.

           4. Click OK.

         • For a Start Date and a Due Date, you can select a date field variable, like Voyage Commence Date on the Voyage Manager, plus or minus a number of days (or business days only), hours, and/or minutes. If a date would land on a nonworking day (a weekend day or a date from a specified Holiday Calendar), you can set it to use the previous or next business day.

         • For Tasks that have been created using a Rule Set, the following fields can be edited:

           • Task Name

           • Category

           • Priority

           • Description

       • Value: Defaults to the Task Name from the Task form.

       • Owner (for Rule Sets that apply to TC, Voyage, or Estimate only): Assigns the Task to a role, but you can reassign it by editing the Task. When set to Default, the Task is assigned to the Rule Set Owner.

10. To edit Rules, do any of the following:

    • To add a Rule above another Rule, right-click the Rule in the navigation tree at the right, and then click Insert.

    • To add a Rule to the end of the current list of Rules, either click + to create a new, blank rule or click  to create a copy of the current Rule.

    • To view a different Rule, click < (previous) or > (next) or click it in the navigation tree.

    • Rules will be read in sequence. To change the sequence, right-click a Rule in the tree and then click Move Up or Move Down.

    • To edit a Result, right-click its line and then click Edit Task or Edit Alert.

    • To add an attachment, right-click the Result line and click Attachments.

11. To update the Task & Alert Rule Set after a change, click Update Rule Set.

12. To save the Rule Set, save the Task & Alert Rule Set form.

Reporting on Task and Alert Rule Sets

In the Task & Alert Rule Set List, to create a report of all rules within each selected rule set, select list lines and then click Report. 

In the Report Designer, to create a report on rules-based alerts, do the following:

1. Create a new report.

2. Add columns:

   1. Select the Cargo, Time Charter, Voyage, or Voyage Estimate primary table.

   2. Click the + button to join the Alerts table.

To create a report on rules-based alerts for Financials, do the following:

1. Create a new report.

2. Add columns:

   1. When adding columns, select Show All Tables, then select Alert.

   2. Select Applies To, then select the filter icon and choose Financials Invoice as the object to filter by so that the report displays alerts that apply to the Financials Invoice.

Available fields in Alerts table:

• Is Acknowledged

• Acknowledged By

• Acknowledged on Gmt

• Applies To ID

• Applies To

• Primary User

• Type

• Value
  
  

Task and Alert Exceptions

• In Time Charter contract, a user can be prevented from saving the contract, however, it will not stop them from raising a TC invoice.