Drafts
A draft is a rule, or a new version of a rule, that is still being worked on. You can save a draft as often as you like, leave it unfinished, test it, come back to it days later, and let others look at it, all without creating a rule version. When the rule is ready, you convert the draft, and it becomes a new rule or a new version of an existing rule.
Use a draft when a change needs time, discussion or testing before anyone should see it as a version: rule versions can never be changed once saved, but a draft can be changed freely.
There are two kinds of drafts:
- A draft of a new rule: a rule that does not exist yet. Its dialog is titled New Rule Draft, followed by the rule's name.
- A draft of a new version: the next version of a rule that already exists, started empty or from one of its versions. Its dialog is titled New Version Draft, followed by the rule's name.
The components it uses:
- The New Draft dialog: creates a draft in three steps, like the New Rule dialog.
- The Draft dialog: a saved draft, with its rule in an editor you can change, and the Keep as Draft and Convert to New Version buttons.
- The Drafts grid: every draft in the repository.
The Drafts tab, and every way into drafts, appear only if you have permission to see drafts.
Starting a Draft
You can start a draft in four places:
- Click + New... at the top of the screen and select New Draft.... This starts a draft of a new rule.
- In the Source Object or Source Version dialog, click New Draft.... This starts a draft of a new rule on that source object.
- In the Rule dialog, click New Draft.... This starts an empty draft of the rule's next version.
- In the Rule Version dialog, click New Draft.... This starts a draft of the rule's next version as a copy of that version.
Then:
- Step 1, New Draft (Step 1 of 3), asks the same questions as the New Rule dialog: for a new rule, its Source, Source Version, Rule Type and whether other rules may use it; for a new version, only the Source Version. A draft started from a version shows Copied from and the version's name. Make your choices and click Next →.
- In step 2, write as much of the rule as you have. Unlike a new rule, a draft may be unfinished or not yet valid; only an empty rule is refused. Click Next →.
- In step 3, type the names. A draft of a new rule needs a Rule Name and a Rule Version Name; a draft of a new version needs the Rule Version Name. You can add descriptions and a Rule Version Internal Note, which becomes the draft's first note.
- Click Create Draft. The draft is saved, and its Draft dialog opens.
Only one New Rule, New Draft or Test dialog can be open at a time.
The Draft Dialog
Open a draft by clicking its row in the Drafts grid. The grey line at the top says what the draft is: its ID, and the rule or the source object and version it is for.
Its tabs:
- Rule Editor: the draft's rule, which you can change. See The Rule Editor.
- AI Rule Editor: let an AI change the rule for you, if your application offers one. See AI Rule Editor.
- Source Fields: everything the source version offers.
- Internal Notes: working comments about the draft.
- Details: the names and descriptions the draft will give the rule and its version when it is converted.
Its buttons:
- Test...: test the draft's rule as it is now, saved or not. See Testing Rules.
- Delete Draft: delete the draft. See Deleting.
- Keep as Draft: save your changes and keep working.
- Convert to New Version: turn the draft into a rule version.
If you close the dialog with changes you have not kept, the repository asks whether to close it and lose them.
Saving Your Work
- Change the rule on the Rule Editor tab, or the names on the Details tab.
- Click Keep as Draft. A notification says "The draft was saved."
You can keep a draft whose rule is unfinished.
Converting a Draft into a Rule Version
- Open the draft and click Convert to New Version.
- If a required name is missing, the Details tab opens with the cursor in the empty field. Type the name and click Convert to New Version again.
- The repository checks the rule. If it is empty, unfinished or not valid, the editor highlights what needs attention and nothing is converted. Fix it and try again.
- The repository asks the save's question, as when you create a rule: Save Version or Save & Go Live if you may make versions live, Request Approval or No Approval if you may only ask for approval. See Creating Rules.
When the conversion succeeds, the draft becomes the new version: a draft of a new rule creates the rule and its first version, and a draft of a new version adds a version to its rule. The draft's notes and history move to the new version, the draft leaves the Drafts grid, the Rule Versions grid opens, and the new version's dialog opens on top of it. If you chose Save & Go Live and something prevents the version from going live, nothing is converted and the draft stays a draft.
The Drafts Grid
Click the Drafts tab to see every draft. Its columns are ID, Rule Name, Version Name, Source, Source Version, Created By, Created On, Modified By and Modified On; the most recently changed drafts are listed first. The icon at the start of each row is View this draft's history.
The filters narrow the list by rule, source, creator, modifier and dates. To see the drafts of one source object, source version, rule or rule version, click the number in the Drafts column of that grid, or use Show related... > Drafts in its dialog.