TPAC Rules

TPAC^TM Rules is part of the TPAC^TM suite of crew planning tools. It's a rules system that is designed specifically to model business rules and processes within a transport enterprise. It drives and feeds the TPAC^TM Optimizers so that the same rule definitions can be used across multiple applications. TPAC^TM Rules is a complete rule system that includes:

• Intuitive Graphic User Interface
• Configuration Environment
• Rule Management
• Platform Independent with Java and C++ Integration Libraries
• Fast Evaluation

What is TPAC Rules?

TPAC^TM Rules is a unique CTI product, which captures business logic and rules in a standard form. Programming is not required. This enables rapid application building and facilitates ongoing maintenance and modification.

Rules need only be specified once and each and every application can use the same rules where applicable. Using TPAC^TM Rules, business logic is visible and can be easily changed by authorized personnel as the business evolves.

Why use TPAC Rules?

For the majority of current software applications, business constraints are enforced through fixed rules defined in the application itself. Building rules into applications means that the rules become inaccessible to the organization, making rule changes a lengthy and complex process. The rules in different applications often don't match precisely, and can be incorrect and incomplete. Having a separate, common, rules module solves these problems.

All classes of rules are user configurable:

• Legality rules.
• Costing and penalty rules.
• Rules determining priorities and preferences.
• Rules determining optimizer algorithm limits and behavior.
• Penalties may be added to allow soft rules and to indicate desirable properties of solutions.
• Annotation rules that can be made to output attributes in the final solution that assist with systems integration.

Technology

TPAC^TM Rules has the following features:

• Centrally stored: defined once, applied everywhere.
• Visible: easier to understand, and check for correctness and completeness.
• Editable: rules can be updated immediately.
• Cross-references to source documents can be included.
• Rule evaluation is platform independent and can be integrated into any application written in Java, C or C++.
• Local caching and optimization of rules enables rapid evaluation.

User Interface

The user interface (TPAC^TM Workbench) allows the user to edit rules through the use of specific forms that use common industry terminology such as Duty, Rest, Qualifications and so on. To better manage rules, they are grouped into folders. Rules that are common across the transport enterprise are grouped together in a common folder whilst those rules that are specific to a subset of the transport enterprise, such as a fleet, are grouped into a specific rule folder. This division better manages rules and enables consistency across the transport enterprise.

Any given rule can use run parameters that allow a user to tweak a rule before starting a run or performing a solution edit. This capability allows the user to perform "What-if" scenario runs with ease.

When performing a rule edit, the user checks out a working copy of the rules from the rules repository using the user interface. Changes are made and then checked back into the repository, making these changes instantly available to the rest of the TPAC^TM Framework.

Performance

TPAC^TM Rules has been designed to work with optimization software in mind. As such, rule evaluation is incredibly fast. Once a transport enterprise's rules have been defined in TPAC^TM Rules, our technology compiles them into platform specific machine code that has been optimized for fast execution.

Architecture

TPAC^TM Rules are stored centrally in a rules repository that is accessible over the network. TPAC^TM Workbench, our Java based user interface, allows for rule editing and management. Java and C++ libraries are available that allow for TPAC^TM Rules execution to be built into any application, server, daemon or process.