Using the Application Explorer

The Application Explorer is available to all developer roles. To show the rules in your application:

1. Select Files > Open > Work Pool > work pool name to select a work pool name. The name appears in the workspace.
2. Locate the Explorer tabs in the navigation area.
3. Click the A tab to bring the Application Explorer to the front.
4. Use the drop-down list to select a class that is to be the root of the tree structure.

Through preferences, you can control:

• Whether rule names (the final key part) or their Short Description text appears
• Which class appears as the top-level of the tree structure for any selected work pool
• Which additional RuleSets to include in the tree structure for any selected work pool
• Where in the key structure the rules that do not have an Applies To key part appear

See Setting Application Explorer preferences.

The tree contains these nodes, identified by icon. The deeper levels appear only when they are not empty:

• — Identifies a work type, a concrete class derived from the Work- base class that is included in your application.
• — Identifies a category name within work type, such as Process or Decision.
• — Identifies a rule type by common name (within the category, within the work type). The rule type appears in italics.
• — Identifies the name found in one or more than one rule that has an Applies To key part that matches the work type or embedded class.
• — Identifies a circumstance-qualified rule. Expand this icon to show the base rule identified by an icon named Base and the circumstanced rule.
• — Identifies a rule that is circumstanced either by a single property or a multivariate circumstance. A single-property circumstance displays this expression: .property=value. A multivariate circumstance displays this expression: CircumstanceTemplate rule=CircumstanceDefinition rule.
• — Identifies a rule that is circumstanced by a date property, which displays this expression: .DateTime property=datetime value. This icon also identifies a rule that is qualified by a date range, which displays this expression: Starting datetime value Ending datetime value.
• — Marks a property that is the target property of a Declare Expression rule.

For properties with a mode other than Single Value, an icon indicates the mode. The following modes are most common:

• — Marks a property with mode Value List.
• — Marks a property with mode Value Group.
• — Marks an embedded Page mode property. Click the plus icon to expand the subtree of embedded properties. Click the minus sign to collapse the subtree.
• — Marks a Page List property. Click the plus icon to expand the subtree of embedded properties, or the minus sign to collapse the subtree.
• — Marks a Page Group property. Click the plus icon to expand the subtree of embedded properties, or the minus sign to collapse the subtree.

Use these operations on the tree structure:

• Click a plus sign to expand the display and view the subtree beneath a node. Click a minus sign to collapse a portion of the tree.
• Click a work type name to list the flow rules for that work type in the workspace.
• Click the object to open the New dialog box, to create a rule of the selected type. If the rule type requires an Applies To key part, the Applies To key part of the currently selected rule appears as a default.
• For nodes labeled with a dot (), click the rule name or label to open a rule with that name into the workspace. Because multiple rules in your application may have common final key parts, this operation uses rule resolution based on your current RuleSet list to determine which rule to open. The rule opened may be circumstance or time-qualified, or may be an ancestor or sibling of the rule you seek. If the rule opened is not the one you need, click the toolbar Related Rules button () to choose another rule.
• Right-click to display a context menu for the rule. The choices that appear depend on the rule and your capabilities.
• Select an Applies To class from the selection list to see the structure of rules that have that class as the first key part.

When you open or operate on a rule presented in the Application Explorer, Process Commander uses rule resolution to find the highest rule on your RuleSet list that you can execute. However, the tree structure in the Application Explorer presents all versions of rules in a RuleSet, not those you can execute. In unusual situations, the Application Explorer display may include a rule that you cannot execute.

Select a text value and right-click to access a context menu.

Depending on the type of the rule you select and other factors, a context menu can include the following menu options:

Menu item	Result
Clone a Class Group	Starts a wizard to copy the classes in a class group. See How to clone a class group.
Collapse	Collapses the subtree below the selected node.
Delegate	Delegates the rule; this action is equivalent to clicking the Favorites toolbar button ().
Delete	Deletes the rule. Available only for rules in top-level classes that belong to unlocked RuleSet versions. (If the rule is checked out to you, the checked-out rule opens; the system asks you to confirm the deletion.)
Define Expression	For properties where the expression icon () is not present, creates the Declare Expression rule associated with this property at the current clipboard context.
Define Properties	Starts the Define Properties wizard using the current work type or class as an input. See About the Define Properties wizard.
Definition	Opens the class rule form. This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
Expand	Expands a Page, Page List, or Page Group property to display the subtree of its embedded properties.
Favorites	Opens a form allowing you to add the selected rule to your set of favorites. See favorites.
Filter by RuleSet	Opens a form allowing you to select RuleSets from those on your RuleSet list. After you click Submit, the tree substructure for the current class is refreshed to show only those rules that belong to the selected RuleSets. This change remains in force until you use this menu choice again for this class, or log off. A check mark by the menu item indicates that filtering is in force for the selected class. Filtering affects only the Application Explorer display of the selected class; it does not affect the display of subclasses that are derived from this class. Press the F5 key to refresh the display and remove all filtering. The Filter by RuleSet menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
Inheritance	Starts the Class Inheritance display for the class in the Applies To key part of the selected rule. See About the Class Inheritance display.
Index Property	Starts a wizard to build a Declare Index rule for the selected embedded property within a Page, Page List, or Page Group property. Requires special database privileges. See About the Declarative Index wizard.
New > category > type	Create a new rule, using the selected class as the Applies To key part. This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
Open Expression	For properties where the expression icon () is present, opens the Declare Expression rule associated with this property and context.
Preview	Presents a preview of the runtime appearance of the rule. This action is equivalent to clicking the Preview toolbar button ().
Related Rules	Presents a second-level menu identifying other rules that related to this one — for example, circumstance-qualified, time-qualified, or checked out. Choose an item in the Related Rules submenu to open it. See Working with the Related Rules menu.
Rename Class	Starts a wizard to rename the rules that apply to a class. See About the Rename a Class wizard. (Appears only for class rules.)
Save As	Opens the Save As dialog box, so you can copy the rule.
Show Calls	For activities, displays the interactive Show Calls tree, which identifies called activities. See Activity form — Completing the Steps tab — Show Calls button.
Structure	Displays the Class Structure diagram that includes this class. See About the Class Structure viewer.
Refactor	Starts the Refactor Rules tool, to allow you to copy rules with a specific Applies To class (optionally including descendent classes) from one RuleSet into another RuleSet. See About the Refactor Rules tool. This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
Refresh RuleSet	Updates the Application Explorer display to reflect rules recently created (or renamed or deleted) by other developers in the RuleSet that contains the selected rule. (Rules you create, rename, or delete are always visible.)
Refresh All	Updates the Application Explorer display to reflect rules recently created (or renamed or deleted) by other developers. (Rules you create, rename, or delete are always visible.)
Run	Opens the rule and starts the unit test of the rule. This action is equivalent to clicking the Run toolbar button ().
View > Applicable Rules	Produce a report, in a separate window, of all rules that have the selected class as the Applies To key part, summarized by rule type. This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
View > category > Type	List rules of a specific rule type that have the selected class as the Applies To key part. This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
View > INSTANCES > View	Lists instances of the class (and subclasses). This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.
View > INSTANCES > Pop-Up	Lists instances of the class (and subclasses), in a separate window. This menu item appears only when the selected item is a class.

When you open or operate on a rule presented in the Application Explorer, Process Commander uses rule resolution to find the highest rule on your RuleSet list that you can execute. However, the tree structure in the Application Explorer presents all versions of rules in a RuleSet, not those you can execute. In unusual situations, the Application Explorer display can include a rule that you cannot execute.

To create a rule in your application:

1. Determine to which work type the new rule is to belong. (That is, determine the Applies To key part.) Locate that node in the tree structure.
2. Click the icon next to that work type to access a list of categories.
3. Click a category name to see the types in that category.
4. Select a rule type. The New dialog box appears.

You can also choose New from a right-click context menu at the category level:

1. Determine to which work type the new rule belongs. (That is, determine the Applies To key part.) Locate that node in the tree structure.
2. Locate the category for the new rule. Click the category icon () next to that work type to access a list of rule types.
3. Select a rule type. The New dialog box appears

Which rules the Application Explorer presents depends on the application rule identified in your access group and preferences you have set. In some situations, the criteria may include rules that you do not consider part of the application, or may exclude others you expect.

• The Application Explorer includes rules for RuleSets listed in the application rule identified in the Access tab of your access group. It also includes the Local Customization RuleSet, identified on the Settings tab of your access group. To review this collection of RuleSets, select Edit > My Profile > Application.
• If you have associated additional RuleSets to a work pool for using the  App Explorer button (on the Edit group of the Preferences panel), rules from these RuleSets also appear.
• The Application Explorer does not include rules checked out to you, or rules in RuleSets listed in the Production RuleSets array of the Access tab.
• Rules from RuleSet versions listed in the Requestor Type data instance, Organization data instance, or Division data instance are not included, (unless they also appear in the application rule).
• Rules from RuleSet versions listed as a prerequisite application rule in the application rule are not included.

The Application Explorer display filters by RuleSet but not by version. In some cases, the display can include rules in versions higher than the highest version to which you have access. It can also include blocked rules and rules with major versions lower than the current major version. You may not be able to open such rules or execute them.

Operation of the Application Explorer uses information in a view of the PegaRULES database named pr4_rule_summary, corresponding to the class Data-Rule-Summary.

In unusual cases, the developer can select a work pool that does not match (belong to) the current application. In this case, the Application Explorer includes all rules from the RuleSets that use the work pool's RuleSet Version as a pre-requisite.

The names of rules that most recently were saved in Version 4.2SP3 or earlier Process Commander versions may not reflect the correct case; for example the property named MyAge may appear incorrectly as Myage. To see the correct case, open and resave the rule.