Editing, Pausing, or Disabling Rules

Order Automation Rules determine how orders route to vendors based on asset characteristics. As your vendor relationships, equipment fleet, or business processes evolve, you'll need to modify, pause, or disable rules to reflect these changes.

This article explains how to edit existing rules, temporarily pause rules without deleting them, disable rules to prevent matching, and safely delete rules when they're no longer needed.

Overview: Rule Lifecycle Management

Rules progress through several states during their lifecycle:

State	Description	Matching Behavior	Use Case
Active	Rule is fully operational	Matches assets, routes orders	Normal operation
Edited	Rule configuration updated	Uses new matching logic immediately	Tag changes, vendor updates
Disabled	Rule temporarily inactive	Does not match assets	Vendor unavailable, testing period
Deleted	Rule permanently removed	No longer exists	Vendor terminated, obsolete equipment

Understanding these states helps you manage rules effectively without unintended disruptions to order routing.

Editing Existing Rules

Editing rules allows you to modify tag matching logic, approval settings, or linked vendors without deleting and recreating the rule.

What You Can Edit

Field	Can Edit?	Impact
Rule Name	✅ Yes	Display only—no impact on matching
Required Tags	✅ Yes	Changes which assets match immediately
Optional Tags	✅ Yes	Changes which assets match immediately
Requires Approval	✅ Yes	New orders use updated approval requirement
Approver User IDs	✅ Yes	New orders route to updated approvers
Account ID	❌ No	Set at creation, cannot change
Rule ID	❌ No	System-generated, immutable

How to Edit a Rule

1. Navigate to Order Management → Rules
2. Locate the rule in the list (use search if needed)
3. Click Edit (pencil icon) next to the rule
4. Modify the desired fields:
   • Update required tags to narrow or broaden matching
   • Add or remove optional tags
   • Change approval settings
   • Update approver user IDs
5. Click Save Rule

Changes take effect immediately—new orders created after saving will use the updated rule logic.

Impact on Existing Orders

Editing a rule does NOT affect orders already created:

• Pending Orders: Already matched to vendors using old rule logic—remain unchanged
• Approved Orders: Not affected by rule changes
• Sent Orders: Already notified to vendors—rule changes irrelevant

Only new orders created after the edit will use the updated rule logic.

Common Editing Scenarios

Scenario 1: Adding Support for New Equipment Models

Situation: Your fleet adds new CAT engine models (QSK60, QSK78) that the existing vendor should support.

Current Rule:

• Required Tags: CAT, Engine
• Optional Tags: Model-3406, Model-3408, Model-C15

Edit: Add new models to optional tags

• Required Tags: CAT, Engine (unchanged)
• Optional Tags: Model-3406, Model-3408, Model-C15, Model-QSK60, Model-QSK78

Result: Orders for assets with the new models now route to this vendor.

Scenario 2: Changing Approval Requirements

Situation: A vendor now requires approval for all orders due to pricing changes.

Current Rule:

• Requires Approval: ❌ Unchecked
• Approver User IDs: (empty)

Edit: Enable approval and specify approvers

• Requires Approval: ✅ Checked
• Approver User IDs: 5e7a1c2b3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e, 6f8b2d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a

Result: New orders to this vendor enter "Pending" status and await approval.

Scenario 3: Narrowing Matching Logic

Situation: A vendor's service area changed—they now only support engines at specific locations.

Current Rule:

• Required Tags: Engine
• Optional Tags: (blank)

Edit: Add location requirement

• Required Tags: Engine, Location-TX-Dallas
• Optional Tags: (blank)

Result: Only engines at the Dallas location match this vendor—engines elsewhere no longer route to them.

Disabling Rules

Disabling a rule temporarily prevents it from matching assets without permanently deleting it. This is useful for short-term vendor unavailability or testing periods.

When to Disable a Rule

• Vendor Temporarily Unavailable: Vendor on vacation, out of stock, or experiencing delays
• Testing New Configurations: Disable old rule to test new rule without conflict
• Seasonal Vendors: Disable off-season vendors (e.g., snow removal in summer)
• Pending Contract Renewal: Vendor contract expired, awaiting renewal
• Quality Issues: Vendor performance problems—disable until resolved

How to Disable a Rule

Method 1: Via Rule List

1. Navigate to Order Management → Rules
2. Find the rule to disable
3. Toggle the Enabled/Disabled switch (if available) or click Disable
4. Confirm action

Method 2: Via Rule Edit

1. Navigate to Order Management → Rules
2. Click Edit on the rule
3. Check Disabled checkbox (or uncheck Enabled)
4. Click Save Rule

Disabled rules no longer match assets—orders for previously matching assets will either match different rules or show "No vendor available."

Impact of Disabling Rules

Impact Area	Effect
New Orders	Rule does not match—vendor not selected
Existing Pending Orders	No impact—already matched to vendor
Rule Assignments	Assignments remain linked but inactive
Vendor	Vendor still exists, other rules for same vendor still active
Fallback Rules	If other rules match asset, next priority vendor selected

Re-Enabling a Rule

To reactivate a disabled rule:

1. Navigate to Order Management → Rules
2. Filter or search for disabled rules (may need to show "Inactive" rules)
3. Click Enable or toggle the switch back to Enabled
4. Confirm action

The rule immediately becomes active and begins matching assets again.

Deleting Rules

Deleting a rule permanently removes it from the system. Use deletion when a rule is obsolete and will never be needed again.

When to Delete a Rule

• Vendor Permanently Removed: No longer do business with vendor, relationship terminated
• Equipment No Longer in Fleet: Asset type retired, no longer need routing for it
• Consolidation: Merged multiple vendors into one—old rules obsolete
• Duplicate Rules: Accidentally created duplicate rules—delete extras

What Happens When You Delete a Rule

• Rule is removed: No longer appears in rules list
• Rule Assignments deleted: All assignments linking this rule to vendors are removed
• Vendor unchanged: Vendor remains—only the rule linking it to assets is deleted
• Existing orders unchanged: Pending, approved, or sent orders are not affected
• Future orders affected: Assets previously matching this rule will no longer match—may result in "No vendor available"

How to Delete a Rule

1. Navigate to Order Management → Rules
2. Find the rule to delete
3. Click Delete (trash icon)
4. Confirm deletion (warning may appear if rule is linked to active vendors)

Warning: Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. If you're unsure, disable the rule instead—you can always re-enable it later.

Before Deleting: Verify Impact

Before deleting a rule:

1. Check Rule Assignments: See which vendors/order types are affected
2. Identify Matching Assets: Determine how many assets currently match this rule
3. Verify Fallback Rules: Ensure alternate rules exist to handle these assets
4. Review Open Orders: Check for pending orders that matched this rule (won't be affected, but good to know)

Managing Rule Assignments

Rule assignments link rules to vendors for specific order types and priorities. You can edit or delete assignments independently from rules.

Editing Rule Assignments

What You Can Edit:

• Priority: Change fallback order (lower number = higher priority)
• Order Type: Cannot edit—delete and recreate assignment with different order type
• Auto-Maintenance: Enable/disable automatic maintenance mode (service orders only)
• Approval Override: Some systems allow assignment-level approval override (separate from rule-level approval)

How to Edit an Assignment:

1. Navigate to Order Management → Rule Assignments (or edit from rule detail page)
2. Find the assignment to edit
3. Click Edit
4. Modify priority or settings
5. Click Save Assignment

Deleting Rule Assignments

Deleting an assignment removes the link between a rule and a vendor for a specific order type:

• Rule remains: Still exists and can match assets
• Vendor remains: Still exists and can receive orders via other rules
• Order type affected: Orders of this type no longer route to this vendor via this rule

Example: A vendor stops providing parts but still provides service. Delete the "part" assignment, keep the "service" assignment.

Testing Rule Changes

Before deploying rule edits organization-wide, test to ensure expected behavior.

Testing Strategy

1. Disable Original Rule: Temporarily disable the rule you're about to edit or replace
2. Create Test Rule: Create new rule with updated logic
3. Test Order Creation: Create orders for test assets to verify correct vendor selection
4. Compare Results: Ensure new rule matches expected assets
5. Deploy: If successful, edit original rule (or delete original, keep new rule)
6. Re-enable: Enable the final rule for production use

This avoids disrupting active order workflows during testing.

Test Order Verification Checklist

• ✅ Correct vendor auto-selected?
• ✅ Approval required/not required as expected?
• ✅ Correct vendor contact email shown?
• ✅ Priority fallback works if primary vendor disabled?
• ✅ No unexpected "No vendor available" errors?

Common Rule Management Scenarios

Scenario 1: Vendor Unavailable for 2 Weeks

Situation: Primary parts vendor on vacation August 1-14.

Action:

1. Disable rule linking this vendor to assets
2. Fallback vendor (priority 2) automatically takes over
3. On August 15, re-enable original rule
4. Orders resume routing to primary vendor

Benefit: Temporary fallback without deleting/recreating rules.

Scenario 2: Vendor Service Area Changed

Situation: HVAC vendor no longer services California—only Arizona and Nevada.

Action:

1. Edit rule to add location requirement:
   • Old: Required = HVAC
   • New: Required = HVAC, Location-AZ, Location-NV (add location tags)
2. Verify California assets now match different vendor (or show "No vendor available")
3. Create new rule/vendor for California if needed

Scenario 3: Consolidating Multiple Vendors Into One

Situation: Acquired 3 small vendors under one parent company—consolidate to single vendor record.

Action:

1. Create new vendor representing consolidated entity
2. Create rules covering all equipment previously handled by old vendors
3. Test new rules/assignments
4. Once verified, delete old vendor rules
5. Optionally delete old vendor records (if no historical orders reference them)

Scenario 4: Adding Approval for High-Cost Vendor

Situation: Vendor pricing increased—now requires approval for cost control.

Action:

1. Edit rule:
   • Check "Requires Approval"
   • Add Approver User IDs: managerId1, managerId2
2. Notify users that orders to this vendor now require approval
3. Approvers start receiving approval notifications

Troubleshooting Rule Changes

Issue: Edited Rule Not Matching Expected Assets

Symptoms: After editing rule, assets that should match aren't matching.

Possible Causes:

• Required tags don't ALL match asset tags (AND logic)
• Optional tags specified, but asset has NONE of them (OR logic requires at least one)
• Typo in tag names

Solution:

• Review asset tags on detail page
• Compare to rule required/optional tags
• Check for spelling differences (e.g., "Model3406" vs "Model-3406")

Issue: Disabled Rule Still Showing in Order Creation

Symptoms: After disabling rule, vendor still appears in order form.

Possible Causes:

• Multiple rules link the same vendor—disabled one, but another remains active
• Cache or UI not refreshed

Solution:

• Check all rules linked to this vendor—disable all relevant rules
• Refresh order creation page
• Verify rule list shows rule as disabled

Issue: Deleted Rule But Orders Still Failing

Symptoms: Deleted rule, now orders show "No vendor available."

Possible Causes:

• No fallback rule exists for these assets
• Deleted the only rule covering this asset type

Solution:

• Create new rule covering these assets
• Or recreate deleted rule if deletion was accidental
• Verify assets have tags that match available rules

Best Practices for Rule Management

Prefer Disabling Over Deleting

When in doubt, disable instead of delete:

• Reversible: Can always re-enable disabled rules
• Audit Trail: Disabled rules remain visible in history
• Seasonal Needs: Easily reactivate when needed

Only delete rules you're certain will never be used again.

Document Rule Changes

Maintain notes on why rules were edited:

• Date of change
• Reason (vendor contract change, service area change, etc.)
• Who requested the change
• Expected impact

This helps future admins understand rule evolution.

Test in Isolation

When making significant rule changes:

1. Create test rule separately
2. Test with sample orders
3. Verify expected behavior
4. Then edit or replace production rule

Avoid editing production rules directly until tested.

Coordinate with Users

If rule changes affect order routing significantly:

• Notify users in advance
• Explain what will change (new approval requirements, different vendors, etc.)
• Provide effective date
• Offer training if needed

Next Steps

Now that you understand rule management, explore these related articles:

• What Are Order Automation Rules? - Core concepts of rules and assignments
• How Rules Are Automatically Created From Vendors - Vendor-to-rule generation process
• Asset-Level Behavior & Rule Overrides - Manual overrides and exceptions
• How Vendor Filtering Works (Mfg/Model Rules) - Tag matching logic deep dive

Effective rule management ensures orders continue routing correctly as your vendor relationships and equipment fleet evolve.