Procedure to manage Rules operations

Word Add-in > Ribbon bar > Validation

To create or run a rule:

  1. Accessing the Validation panel
  2. Open the document
  3. Open the Validation tab

Create Custom Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select the Rules tab
  2. Click CREATE NEW RULE
  3. In the Rule creation panel, choose Custom
  4. In the Rule creation panel, enter the rule name in the Rule name form
  5. In the Rule Input editor box, enter a rule expression (see Note for information about regular expressions)
  6. To write expressions, you can use the keyboard or the UI operator buttons.
  7. To enter tags, you can use the list by clickingADD TAG or the “@” annotation.
  8. Click SAVE

*Note*: Expressions must follow the basic rules below:

  • Numeric expressions can be created.
  • Comparisons can be made between tags and/or between tags and numeric expressions.
  • Each opening parenthesis must be closed.
  • If a string of words and numbers is present, the first number in the string is considered. Words alone produce an error.
  • In a string consisting of a number followed by its currency, the currency is ignored.

Note: Some examples of correct expressions are:

  • tag3 > tag1
  • tag3 = 5
  • tag3 = 5.4
  • (tag3 > tag1)
  • (tag3) > (tag1)
  • tag3 + tag1 > tag2
  • tag3 * 3 > tag2
  • tag3 * 2 > 8.5

Note: If a rule is not written correctly, the system displays the following error message under the Rule Input editor box: "Rule validation failed"

Edit Custom Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select the Rules tab
  2. Expand the rule to modify it
  3. Click the pencil icon
  4. In the Rule creation panel, it is possible to modify the selected rule expression and/or modify the rule name in the Rule name form following the same procedure used to create a custom rule
  5. Click UPDATE

Create Consistency Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select Rules tab
  2. In the Rule creation panel, choose Consistency
  3. In the Rule creation panel, enter the rule name in the Rule name form
  4. Select one or more tags
  5. Click SAVE

Edit Consistency Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select the Rules tab
  2. Expand the rule to modify it
  3. Click the pencil icon
  4. In the Rule creation panel, it is possible to select new tags, remove selected tags or change the rule name in the Rule name form
  5. Click UPDATE

Delete Custom/Consistency Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select the Rules tab
  2. Expand the rule to remove it
  3. Click the trash icon
  4. Click the Yes, Delete button

Run Single Custom/Consistency Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select the Rules tab
  2. Expand the rule to run it
  3. Click the play icon
  4. A card is displayed showing the rule result (Verified, Failed or Error) with its details

Run Multiple Custom/Consistency Rule

  1. In the Validation panel, select the Rules tab
  2. Select one or more rules by its checkbox
  3. Click Run rules (N) where N is the number of rules selected
  4. For each rule, a card is displayed showing the rule result (Verified, Failed or Error)along with its details

Create Table total rule

Word Add-in > Ribbon bar > Validation

TheTable totalsare a new type of validation rule dedicated to checking the totals within a table. They are added alongside the existing rule types — Custom and Consistency — and let you quickly and easily verify that the sum of the values in a row or a column matches the total shown in the table.

Unlike the other rule types, creating a Table totals rule does not require you to define a tag for each cell beforehand. Without this rule type, to check a total you would first have to create a tag for each cell involved, name each one and then recall those names while building the rule — a more time-consuming task. With Table totals, you simply indicate the cells to sum and the total to check directly on the table; the system automatically recognizes the position of the cells, making rule creation much faster.

Each Table totals rule works on a single table, which you choose as the first step when creating it.

Table totals rules are saved together with the other rules inside the document, so you can recall and run them at any time.

Note:you do not need to create tags first. You can create a new Table totals rule directly, even on a document that does not yet contain any tags.

To create a Table total rule in the Validation panel:

Choosing the rule type

  1. Click Create rule. Three options are shown as radio buttons at the top of the screen: Custom, Consistency and Table totals
  2. Select Table totals. After you choose the Table totals type, the list of all the tables in the document is displayed
  3. Click the table you want: the document scrolls automatically to highlight the selected table

After you choose the Table totals type, the list of all the tables in the document is displayed

Selecting the table

Click the table you want: the document scrolls automatically to highlight the selected table

Enabling cell selection

  1. Hover the mouse over the table: a + (plus) icon appears.
  2. Click the + icon: cell selection is enabled and the Table totals creation panel opens.

The creation panel contains:

  • the Cells to sum box;
  • the Totals box;
  • the Select totals action;
  • the Rule name field.

Note:the feature is based on the position of the cells in the table. If the table changes (for example, its cardinality changes or a new row is added between the selected rows), the rule must be updated.

Selecting the cells to sum

  1. Place the cursor inside a cell: the cell is added to the Cells to sum box.
  2. Place the cursor inside another cell: the cell is added to the Cells to sum box as an addend in the sum of the cells already selected.

Each cell is shown in the format “(column, row) value”, for example “(1,4) 5.123”.

In the Cells to sum box, the cells appear as addends joined by the + (plus) sign, forming the sum that will be compared with the total.

While selecting cells:

  • if you select several cells in a single selection, all of them are added;
  • if you select a cell that is already present, it is not added again;
  • clicking the Cells to sum box re-enables cell selection;
  • hovering over a cell that is already selected shows an X icon to remove it;
  • if you place the cursor outside the table, the system ignores the selection.

Note:if you select a cell that contains text, the cell is still added correctly; the error is reported when the rule is run. The system does not check that the selected cells are aligned vertically or horizontally.

Selecting the total

  1. Click Select totals
  2. Place the cursor on a single cell: the cell is added as the Total of the rule

Naming and saving

  1. Enter the Rule name
  2. Click Save

When you save, a confirmation message appears. The rule is saved inside the document together with the other rules, and you can recall and run it at any time.

Note:the rule is created on the selected table. To check the totals of another table, you need to create a dedicated rule.