Hi folks

This month I thought I’d share with you some pro tips for using the rule assistant in Microsoft Word.

I know some people like to manually type their rules, some people like to use the Rule Assistant to guide them through every step of the process and some like myself sit in the middle, using it for specific tasks only (functions and attribute searching are definitely my fave!).

Whatever your personal preference, hopefully the tips below will help you get a little more out of the experience.

Creating rules

Clicking the Rule Assistant in any blank space in a document will start you creating a new rule and it’s simply a matter of typing in your rule conclusion and then either hit Enter or selecting the rule type using the keyboard arrow keys. Tip: Turn on the styles area first (Show Styles on the Policy Modeling ribbon) so you can see the styles the Rule Assistant is using.

For each condition, type the condition text in the Rule Assistant and then use the keyboard  arrow keys to select what you want to do next (or simply type “and” or “or” and hit Enter). Pressing Enter immediately after the condition signals that you’re done and the Rule Assistant will create the rule for you.

Searching for attributes and functions

You can type all or part of an existing attribute to find and reuse it. This also works for attributes you’ve used previously in the document, but haven’t saved yet.

Most functions are also available in the Rule Assistant search. Step through the function arguments in the Rule Assistant by using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys.

Editing existing rules

The Rule Assistant can also be used for editing existing rules. Click in the rule and launch the Rule Assistant to easily navigate up and down the rule using the arrow keys in the Rule Assistant.

Retype the text you need to replace or select from existing attributes. 

The Delete Condition option on the Policy Modeling ribbon is particularly helpful where you have a lot of nested levels and you don’t want to do the legwork yourself. For example, removing one condition under an ‘any’ where there are only two conditions, will also remove the ‘any’.

Using the shortcut keys

The table below lists the keys that can be used to quickly perform actions in the Rule Assistant.

Function

Keyboard shortcut

Move forward to next field

Tab

Move back to previous field

Shift+Tab

Move down to next conclusion

Ctrl+Down arrow

Move up to previous conclusion

Ctrl+Up arrow

Delete condition

Ctrl+Shift+Delete

Did you know there are shortcut keys for other common Policy Modeling tasks too? See a list here.

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks. Feel free to leave a comment if there is a topic you would like to see covered.

 

Previous: Tips and Tricks 2: Working with Policy Modeling Projects

Next: Tips and Tricks 4: Creating meaningful documents