• This option allows you to specify search criteria such as the item name, description or parent.

• This option allows you to specify the product characteristics to which matching standard items should respond

• This option allows you to specify price ranges to which the targeted standard items have to correspond

• This option allows you to specify the product relationships in which the standard items are occurring, either as a “child” or as a “parent”.
• It is also possible to filter standard items based on the Business Properties that are being carried by their Product Links.

Example:

Look up all items in the repository for which the workspace = “production” and the type = “SI” and the business property “color” = aliasInput.

Warning: Product Filters can only be triggered by input aliases which respect the following criteria:

Or

• The input alias has the flag “must Be Answered” set to “false” AND the associated form property (or its quantity or comment) has the flag “immediate propagation” set to “true” (as of version 7.1 SP4)

  In order to limit the number of returned results, it is advised to set the “must Be Answered” flag to “true”.

  Warning: A Product Filter applying on prices can only be based on prices stored in the CPQ database and not on prices calculated via a pricing method. It is thus impossible to filter on calculated prices at runtime while calculating them.

MACRO BRC

A Business Macro is a Macro Language script, which allows defining complex rules.

However, if a macro issues a constraint (a domain or a domain filter between 2 or more CPE), it has to issue that constraint by using the DISPLAY “constraint” statement, in which the “constraint” is a fully defined table.

A macro can return operators if the setting "OP" is set to true.

DEFINE sampleMacro()

IF inputAlias=”RED”

LET outputTable[0,0] ”outputAlias” /* Define the output alias */

LET outputTable[1,0] “A” /* first domain value */

LET outputTable[2,0] “B” /* second domain value */

LET outputTable[3,0] “C” /* third domain value */

LET outputTable[”NR”] 3 /* number of values in the domain */

LET outputTable[”NC”] 1 /* number of aliases returned */

DISPLAY “outputTable” /* This returns the domain */

END_IF

END_DEFINE

DEFINE sampleMacro()

LET myResult … /* This contains the calculation logic */

DISPLAY myResult /* This returns the result to the output alias */

END_DEFINE

DEFINE sampleMacro()

LET outputTable[0,0] ”aCharacter” /* Define the output alias */

LET outputTable[0,1] ”aNumber” /* Define the output alias */

LET outputTable[1,0] “A” /* first combination, first column */

LET outputTable[1,1] “1” /* first combination, second column */

LET outputTable[2,0] “B” /* second combination, first column */

LET outputTable[2,1] “1” /* second combination, second column */

LET outputTable[3,0] “C” /* third combination, first column */

LET outputTable[3,1] “2” /* third combination, second column */

LET outputTable[”NR”] 3 /* number of combinations in the domain */

LET outputTable[”NC”] 2 /* number of aliases returned */

DISPLAY “outputTable” /* This returns the domain */

END_DEFINE

Example 4: A macro with operators DEFINE cstWithOperators() LET tab[0,0] "criterion1" LET tab[0,1] "criterion2" LET tab[0,2] "criterion3"

DEFINE cstWithOperators()

LET tab[0,0] "criterion1"

LET tab[0,1] "criterion2"

LET tab[0,2] "criterion3"

/* First column uses operators */

LET tab[0, 'OP'] "true"

/* Second column also uses operators, even if it's just for one cell */

LET tab[1, 'OP'] "true"

/* Third column uses plain values, so the 'op' declaration is optional */

/* Declare a matrix with 3 columns and seven rows */

LET tab["NR"] 7

LET tab["NC"] 3

/* Column 1 contains integer operators */

LET tab[1,0] opBetween(Integer("1"), Integer("10"))

LET tab[2,0] opBetween(Integer("11"), Integer("99"))

LET tab[3,0] opBetween(Integer("0"), Integer("50"))

LET tab[4,0] opGt(Integer("50"))

LET tab[5,0] opLt(Integer("25"))

LET tab[6,0] opGt(Integer("25"))

LET tab[7,0] opGt(Integer("0"))

/* Column 2 contains string operators */

LET tab[7,1] opInside("A", "B")

/* Column 3 contains plain strings */

LET tab[7,2] "AB"

DISPLAY "tab"

END_DEFINE

A Business Macro also allows you to provide business explanations.

Or

• The input alias has the flag “must Be Answered” set to “false” AND the associated form property (or its quantity or comment) has the flag “immediate propagation” set to “true” (as of version 7.1 SP4)

SQL BRC

A SQL BRC enables you to run a SQL query on multiple Business data tables to output a list of possible combinations of values for all aliases in the BRC. (i.e. to output a table similar to a Matrix BRC where all operators are "=")

This type of BRC is particularly useful when you are using business data table as a way to store multiple constraints in 1 single entity.

It allows you to reuse a given BDT and generate multiple constraints based on the same data source.

I have 2 tables to administrate my configurable product logic.

• First table identifies which size is eligible for a particular Sales channels
• Second table identified which type of service is compatible for a particular product size.

Those tables are uses in 2 configurable products. A CP-Webversion only sold from the Web , another CP-Reseller only eligible to my resellers.

Here are 2 BDTs that I maintain :

"Channel Eligility" BDT contains which product size is sellable for a partcular channel

"Size Type" BDT contains which type of product is compatible with a given size

I will then create 1 SQL BRC to handle the constraint between my product type and size for the CP-Webversion and another one for the CP-Reseller

For CP-Reseller

SELECT cType , cSize

FROM SizeType S

INNER JOIN ChannelEligibility C

ON S.cSize= C.cSize WHERE cChannel='Reseller'

For CP-Webversion

SELECT cType , cSize

FROM SizeType S

INNER JOIN ChannelEligibility C

ON S.cSize= C.cSize WHERE cChannel='Web'

As an example, when executing the CP-Reseller, the following constraint will be active (being the result of the SQL statement) :

Select the step where the BRC must be added, for example: the "Structure / Build" step of a Configuration Process.

Column-based representation

• Click on ‘Add BRC’ on the table header
• [In the popup]
  • Enter the Name and Description
  • Select the BRC Type in the combobox
  • Click on OK
  • The BRC is created and appears in the header of your table
• [In the content table]
  • Tie the BRC to its output parameters by ticking the corresponding checkboxes.
• [In the menu toolbar]
  • Save

Column-based representation

• [Via ‘Filter Objects’ explorer]
  • Retrieve the BRC you want to use
• Drag & Drop the BRC into the header of the table corresponding to the output parameters
• Tie the BRC to its output parameters by ticking the corresponding checkboxes
• Save

In order to copy-paste a BRC, proceed as follows:

• Open the BRC menu next to the BRC Name in the column header or in the cell which references the BRC you would like to copy and choose copy BRC
• Navigate to the step in which you would like to create a new BRC and open the object of interest
• Click on the column header (for a column-based BRC representation) or in the cell of interest (for a cell-based BRC representation) and choose paste BRC.

• Enter the necessary name & description.

Alternatively, you can duplicate a BRC immediately by doing the following:

Providing the System Properties

The following table describes the parameters associated to the BRC:

Providing the Input and Output Aliases

The Aliases table will list the Input and Output aliases that are used by the BRC content or to trigger the BRC.

By default, when associating a BRC with a specific attribute, the Designer will automatically generate the alias corresponding to this attribute. Subsequently, you can add, delete or modify aliases in the ‘BRC Dictionary’ step.

How to add a new Alias in a BRC

[Via the ‘BRC Dictionary step – Parameters sub-step – Aliases section] Add a CPE by either one of the following methods:

[Via the 'BRC Dictionary step – Parameters sub-step – Aliases section] Add a CPE by either one of the following methods:

• [Via the 'BRC Dictionary' step – Parameters sub-step – Aliases section]
  • Select the table line corresponding to the Alias to delete.
• [Via the Table toolbar]
  • Click on 'Delete line' function.
• Save

How to specify a Matrix BRC

• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary step – Business Logic sub-step]
  • Fill in the matrix
• Save

In the matrix, the following columns are displayed:

Definition: A Business Value is a text-based reusable reference that is translatable. Rich media objects can be associated to it.

• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary step – Business Logic sub-step]
  • Enter the formula.
• Save.

In order to access the macro, proceed as follows:

• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary step – Business Logic sub-step]
  • The Business Macro opens”
• [In the macro content]
  • Specify the macro
• [In the menu toolbar]
  • Execute the “check” function.
    • If the function returns an error, correct it first before saving
• [In the menu toolbar]
  • Save

Reference: For more details, please refer to the CPQ Macro Language – Reference Manual.

In order to access the SQL BRC, proceed as follows:

• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary step – Business Data sub-step]
  • Attach the BDT that you will use as a data source for your SQL query (see Using Business Data Tables chapter below)
• [In the BRC content]
  • Specify the SQL query
• [In the menu toolbar]
  • Execute the “check syntax” function.
  • If the function returns an error, correct it first before saving
• [In the menu toolbar]
  Save:

  Information: The SQL statement must comply with the following guidelines :

  1. The SQL request is a SELECT and only a SELECT query
  2. The SQL request used to build the final constraint table must only take static statements.

     Indeed, the SQL request is executed only once and not on a per-session basis i.e. the constraint returned by the SQL statement behaves like a Matrix BRC BUT its content does not change during a configuration session.

     The SQL BRC can be seen as a different way to configure and maintain a Matrix-typed BRC

     As a result, the SQL request must not leverage the value of one of the alias in a WHERE Clause.

  3. The selected items in the query needs to be mapped to the aliases of the brc. Either those aliases share the name of the column being selected, or the selected item will need to be associated to a label in the sql query.

     In the example below, the labels aTemp and aVol corresponds to aliases of the BRC

     SELECT` `temperature ``AS` `aTemp, volume ``AS` `aVol ``from` `bdtPerfectGas

     ``WHERE` `pressure = 1

• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary step – Business Logic sub-step]
  • Specify the Product Filter.
• Save.

By default, a product filter contains system properties, allowing to look up products in the repository based on their name, workspace, collection or parent information. However, the real power of product filters lies in the extensions: each product filter is capable of looking up products based on not only system properties, but also business properties, pricing information and even product links.

How-To: In order to use the collection of the product as a search criterion, fulfill either the Collection workspace or the Collection name (or both) in the system properties. The searched collection(s) is the one built during the design phase, with no runtime constraint or access rights applied. Besides, only the collection is searched and not its potential sub-collections.

How-To: In order to add business properties as search criteria, look up the corresponding Business Property Set in the “Filter Objects” explorer and drag & drop it into the product filter.

The BPS can be used to filter based on BPS values carried by either:

• Standard Items: drag and drop into the “System Properties” grid
• Product Links: drag and drop into the Product Link grid
  How-To: In order to add prices as search criteria, look up the corresponding Pricing Method in the “Filter Objects” explorer and drag & drop it into the product filter:

In order to add product links as search criteria, lookup the corresponding Product Link type in the “Filter Objects” explorer and drag & drop it into the product filter.

As a product link can be dropped several times (in order to express different filtering criteria), a name will have to be given to each instance (in order to uniquely identify it).

For each product link criteria group, all lines need to be activated. Then proceed to the

Once all necessary attributes have been dragged & dropped onto the corresponding sections (multiple Business Property Sets can be added, as well as multiple Pricing Methods), they need to be activated in order to participate in the search.

For each activated criterion, the following fields are presented:

When you are using a SQL BRC or in some circumstances, when you create a macro-based BRC involving complex rules all the while separating the pure "business data" storage from the macro content, Business Data Tables are a welcome solution.

the Designer. It allows storing business-related data that can be retrieved using SQL queries using a macro-based BRC.

Business Data Tables can only be created using macro-based or SQL BRC. In order to create a Business Data Table, proceed as follows:

• [In the step “BRC Dictionary”]
  • Make sure that a macro-based BRC has been opened
• [In the menu toolbar]
  • Click on the sub-step “Business Data”
• [In the explorer toolbar]
  • Execute the function “New Business Data Table”
  • Provide a name for the Business Data Table
• [In the table toolbar]
  • Execute the function “Stucture / Add Column” as many times as necessary. For each column:
  • Provide a name
  • Provide a type
  • Provide a length
• [In the menu toolbar]
  • Execute the function “Add Index” as many times as necessary. For each index:
  • Provide a name
  • Indicate if the index is unique
  • Indicate the columns involved in the index
• Save.

In-memory Business Data Table Cache is a feature to create an in-memory database mirroring the business data tables in the modeling data source. The goal is to have better performances when dealing with a significant volume of data in Business Data Tables.

This feature must be activated to be available. Please contact your PROS Customer Representative for more details.

PROVIDING BUSINESS EXPLANATION

Matrix & Macro BRC can provide detailed business explanations that can be modeled inside the BRC.

Once you have defined the Names of the Explanations in the BRC Content, you can click on the Explanation sub-step in order to define the associated descriptions.

Depending on the BRC state, user explanations will be interpreted either as errors or as warnings.

The specific explanations in the matrix are raised whenever a particular combination applies.

• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary’ step – Business Logic sub-step]
  • Make sure that the specific business explanation name has been put on the combinations for which you would like to provide an explanation.
• [Via the ‘BRC Dictionary’ step – Explanations sub-step]
  • Enter the description corresponding to each Business Explanation name.
• Save.

How to define specific explanations in a Macro

When using the getSetting/setSetting confML API:

• Either the setting you are trying to retrieve has already been loaded as a BRC Alias

  In that case, the getSetting API will return the value that the setting had at the time it has been associated to the alias.

  Any subsequent setSetting call will allow modifying the value of the setting BUT this new value will only be accessible in the resulting XML, at the end of the Configurator session.

• Or the setting you are trying to retrieve is never used as a BRC Alias

  In that case, you can use getSetting/setSetting API and the getSetting will always return the latest value of the setting

THE USAGE OF “BUSINESS EXPLANATIONS”

Do not: Explanations cannot be used in the case that the “output” of the BRC is the state (“.state.exists”, “.state.visible”, etc.) of an object (of a Configuration Process, Form or Form Property).

THE USAGE OF “.DESCR”

• Locate the form property which has to be validated
• Create a BRC in the step Constraints, associated to the form which holds the targeted form property
• Make sure that the output CPE flags are set as follows:
  • MustExist = true
  • MustBeAnswered = true
• Make sure that the BRC type is exclusion
• Make sure that the BRC result is only displayed whenever the entered value is invalid
• If necessary, issue a message explaining the error

For instance, a form property which allows entering a zip code would benefit of a macro that checks the validness of the zip code. It would be written as follows:

BRC DictionaryValidateZipCode()

/* one unique alias: aZip = CPE.currentForm.FP/fpZipCode.value */

LOCAL error “0”

IF checkLength(zipCode) > 5

LET error “You have to enter 5 digits”

MESSAGE error

END_IF

IF checkAlphanumerical(zipCode) = “false”

LET error “You have to use numbers only”

MESSAGE error

END_IF

IF error <> “0”

DISPLAY aZip /* Issue the value to be rejected */

END_IF

END_DEFINE

CALCULATING BRC

The term “calculating BRC” can be used for any BRC that outputs a specific unique attribute that cannot hold more than one piece of information (i.e. “simple”) during the configuration, or for any BRC that is used during the “generative processes”.

Calculating BRC have a specific behavior in the sense that, whenever they return only one value, they will not empty the domain but instead “deactivate themselves”.

In order to demonstrate this behavior, let’s have a look at BRC “X”:

If the user chooses the color “Black”, and if the BRC “X” is a filtering BRC or a domain BRC aiming to determine the compatible numbers for that color, BRC “X” will issue no results whatsoever.

Hence, it will indicate that “no numbers are compatible with the color black” and therefore the domain of the “number” will be emptied which implies that the user will not be able to choose a number.

However, if the user chooses the color “Black” and if the BRC “X” aims to calculate the default value for the “number”, it will simply return no default value. Hence, it will indicate that “no default value has been found” and therefore the user will see no default value.

USING SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN MACRO-BASED BRC

In the context of macro-based BRC, it is possible to issue objects using a specific context. In some circumstances, it may arrive that the names of the objects to be issued contain reserved characters ; in this case the name needs to be encapsulated using double quotes:

BRC DictionaryIssueSpecialNames()

LET tab[0,0] "output"

LET tab[1,0] "workspace/SI/aNormalName"

LET tab[2,0] "workspace/SI/a.Name.With.Dots"

LET tab[3,0] 'workspace/SI/"a.Name.With.a/Slash"'

LET tab["NR"] 3

LET tab["NC"] 1

DISPLAY "tab"

END_DEFINE

In the context of matrix-based BRC and macro-based BRC, it is possible to override the description associated to an object (Business Value, Standard Item, Sales Product) with a session-specific description.

In order to provide that specialized description for a matrix, proceed as follows:

• [In the matrix BRC content]
  • Click on the cell representing the value description.
    • A popup will open up
• [In the popup]
  • Provide an alternative description to be used in context of the session (the standard description is marked as read-only).

In order to provide that specialized description for a macro, the following syntax can be used:

BRC DictionarypecializeDescriptions()

LET outputTable[0,0] "Alias1" /* Define the output alias */

/* example without special characters */

LET outputTable[1,0] "workspace/BVAL/va001/descr=my first description"

/* example using a character used as a separator */

LET outputTable[2,0] 'workspace/SI/si001/descr="my /second/ description"'

/* example using a double quote */

LET outputTable[3,0] 'workspace/SI/si002/descr=50"" television'

/* example using a double quote and a character used as a separator */

LET outputTable[4,0] 'workspace/SI/si002/descr="50"" /television"'

LET outputTable["NR"] 4

LET outputTable["NC"] 1

DISPLAY "outputTable"

END_DEFINE