Using General Resources#

Resources are the main building blocks of Rulex Platform.

Once users are logged into the application, they see, by clicking on the Explore Resources icon, all the resources for which the view permission has been granted. They can then only interact with these resources as long as they are working with the software.

Resources allow the user to automate operations, to store sensitive information, to segregate data and to scale its solution at enterprise level. For this reason a knowledge about the different types of resources, their behavior and their characteristics is extremely important to correctly use Rulex Platform application.

This page focuses on general resources, i.e. the resources that are available throughout the whole Platform and that can be viewed and managed in multiple components.

These are:

To dive deep into the different characteristics of the various resources, please see the singular resource reference page, available at the links above.

The most common properties of general resources will be discussed here.

To create new general resources you need to open the Explorer (for more information, see page: Exploring Rulex Platform) and follow the steps down below:

Procedure

Click on the Explore Resources icon to open the Explorer pane.
Deactivate the primary resource filter by turning off the Primary filter toggle switch located at the top right-hand corner of the Explorer if you want to add general resources to your Platform.
Hover over the plus button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Explorer pane.
Select Add new <Resource> (substitute <Resource> with the desired general Resource).
Follow the wizard connection configuration dedicated to the specific general resource (for more information on this aspect, see the individual pages of the respective resources)
Enter a unique name for your resource in the last entry of the wizard configuration window.
Click Create: the new resource will now be added to the list.

Resources Context Menu#

Once the resource is created you can interact with it by right-clicking on it. This operation opens the resource context menu.

Context menu operations work on the group of selected resources. Not all the operations are possible if multiple resources are selected. In the following description, operations that can be performed on more than one resource will be highlighted.

Note

To select more than one resource you need to press Ctrl+click to select multiple and far apart general resources or press SHIFT+click to select all resources, then right-click to open their context menus. A lighter color will inform you if the resource is correctly selected.

The general resources context menu contains the following entries:

Delete: it allows the user to delete the selected resource (valid also for multiple selection).
Rename: it allows the user to rename the selected resource.
Information: it permits the user to see internal information about the resource (if the user has modify permission, the resource can be modified to redefine its definition).
Permissions: it opens the Permission panel where resource permission can be modified. For more information on managing permissions in Rulex Platform, see page: Resource permissions.
Export: it allows the user to export the selected resource on file (possible only if the user has share permission on the resource). For more information, see subsection: Exporting Resources.
Copy: it allows the user to copy the selected resource and subsequently paste it in a different environment location (valid also for multiple selection).
Cut: it allows the user to cut the selected resource and subsequently paste it in a different environment location (valid also for multiple selection).

Further specific entries in the context menu may be present depending on the particular resource type. For more information on these entries see the specific resource pages.

Tip

Moving resources within the Platform can also be performed by dragging and dropping them. To move a general resource or environment, you need to select it, and then stay for a few seconds with the drag cursor on the Explorer Path located at the top of the Explorer pane.

Importing Resources#

In any component of Rulex Platform, you can import general resources within your environments, so that they are available for any user with view access to the current environment.

Note

By default, imported resources inherit the same permission list of the environment in which the resource is imported.

They can be customized by accessing the Permission Panel once the import is finished.

Before starting to import resources into Rulex Platform, you need to satisfy the following prerequisites:

Prerequisites

you must have navigated to the environment where you want to import the general resource.
you must have create permission on the current environment.

To import a general resource into Rulex Factory, follow these step-by-step instructions:

Procedure

Open the Explorer and turn off the Primary filter toggle switch.
Hover over the plus button and click on the Import Source button.
Select the Source type (Saved or Custom). If you have chosen the Custom mode, insert the specific filesystem configuration options.
Choose the resource to import by clicking the Select button on the right-hand side of the Path 1 text box.
To add a new path and import multiple resources at the same time, click on the Add new path icon, which is next to the Select button. You can add as many paths as you want.
To import an entire folder of resources, select the folder-shaped icon, available only for Local File System.
Click on Import to complete the import operation or on Cancel to close the Import resource panel without importing any resources.

Note

The names of imported resources will be automatically be taken from the file names that are currently being considered, automatically disambiguating among them to avoid having the same resource names.

Note

You can always edit the resources details by right-clicking on the resource in the Explorer and choosing Information. In the Information pane, click on the pencil-shaped icon to edit the resource details (see the various resource configurations)

Exporting Resources#

In any component of Rulex Platform, you can export general resources to files, once you have share permission on the current resources.

Resources of the same type can be exported together in different files in a single operation, to do this, you first have to select them.

Before starting to export resources from Rulex Platform, you need to satisfy the following prerequisites:

Prerequisites

you must have navigated to the environment where the resources you want to export are located.
you must have share permissions on the selected resources to export.

To export a general resource from Rulex Factory, follow these step-by-step instructions:

Procedure

Open the Explorer and turn off the Primary filter toggle switch.
Right-click on the resource you want to export.
Select the Source type (Saved or Custom). If you have chosen the Custom mode, insert the specific filesystem configuration options.
Choose the folder where you want to save the exported resource by clicking the Select button on the right-hand side of the Path 1 text box.
Fill the Insert the desired file name text field with the name chosen for your output file, in case you are exporting a single resource.
If necessary, check one of the following checkboxes:
- Add current date and time as prefix
- Add current date and time as suffix
to add an automatic suffix/prefix based on the timestamp of the operation.
Click on Export to complete the export operation or on Cancel to close the Export resource panel without exporting any resources.

Deleting import and export paths#

To delete a path during the import/export process of a general resource:

Procedure

On the Import/Export resource panel, click on the X icon, which is next to the Select button, to cancel the corresponding import or export path.

Note

During the import process if you have added more than one path, and you want to delete them, you can click on the Delete all paths icon to clear all the inserted paths.