Designing Business Rules with the Configurator

You can use the Business Rule Configurator to design business logic to perform tasks in Loftware Enterprise SP beyond what can easily be incorporated into data sources in a label template. For example, you can create business rules to dynamically select devices and label templates, to populate label data, or to apply conditional formatting to labels. You can also create a business rule to generate related labels from one label template, such as producing a bill of lading for a shipment and a label for each item in the shipment.

What Processes and Business Rules Are

A process is an object in Loftware Enterprise SP that binds together all of the components to be used when responding to a print request. Among other items, those components may include a label template, layout, device, and a business rule to be used when processing a print request.

A business rule is a collection of component sets or business rule components that can be used to incorporate logic or to add, change, or remove data or print parameters after a print request is submitted but before printing occurs. Business rules are similar to rules, but provide more robust functionality. Business rules can be designed using the Configurator or programmed using XML.

Note: If you require that a business rule have additional capabilities or flexibility beyond what is possible by using Configurator, a programmer can use XML to develop a business rule. This is also the approach that must be used for editing any business rules created prior to Loftware Enterprise SP 3.0. For more information, see Implementing Business Logic.

Note: To create or edit business rules, you must have the permissions necessary to view Application Design . Contact an administrator to request access if necessary. If you are an administrator, see Configuring Access for Processes and Business Rules.