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Visit the Understanding the rules engine article for up to date information.
How the Rules Engine interacts with the Quoting workflow
Rules CAN remove one or many carriers from the list of quotes returned. If the conditions passed in the quoting request matches a rule (eg. a location was entered that matches a rule that removes a carrier based on that location), the Rules Engine can remove the carriers which match that rule. This can be extremely useful if you want to restrict certain carriers from quoting based on business or operational preferences.
Rules Engine will apply if carrier quotes are obtained through these channels:
Carrier quotes can be returned via the Send page
Here's a diagram of how the Rules Engine fits into Shippit's quoting workflow:
How the Rules Engine interacts with the Order workflow
Rules CAN remove carriers from the recommended carrier allocated to an order. If the conditions passed in the ordering request matches a rule (eg. a location was entered that matches a rule that removes a carrier based on that location), the Rules Engine can remove the carriers which match that rule. This can be extremely useful if you want to restrict certain carriers from being allocated on orders, based on business or operational preferences.
Shippit allocates a carrier if a new order is created or an existing order is updated. Rules Engine will apply and may remove carriers if the order is created or updated in these channels:
New orders created through adding orders within New Orders page
New orders created through the Send page
Existing orders updated through editing orders within New Orders page
Here's a diagram of how the Rules Engine fits into Shippit's ordering workflow:
Rules CANNOT remove carriers if the carrier is manually specified. In some cases, the user or integration will manually select the carrier to allocate & quote on. In this case, Rules Engine will not apply and remove carriers if the order is created (eg. if the shopper overrides the recommend carrier and manually selects the carriers off the shopping cart)
Here's a diagram of how the Rules Engine fits into Shippit's ordering workflow if a carrier is selected:
How the Rules Engine interacts with the Allocation settings
Shippit's Allocation Settings will only apply after Rules Engine have been applied. Allocation Settings (see below) will be applied after the Rules Engine has evaluated the order.
If rules removes all carriers from the allocation the UI or API will return error states before labelling. To remedy the error, simply manually select the courier within the UI or API.
There will be a specific Rules Engine error in the UI if the Rules Engine causes no carriers to be allocated in the New Orders screen:
There will also be a specific Rules Engine error in the API if the Rules Engine causes no carriers to be allocated. If the rules remove all the carriers, then the order API won’t fail, but, when the label API tries to print the label, merchants will get a rules engine specific error. There will be a specific Rules Engine error message on the return of Label API if the Rules Engine causes an error in the order.
To learn more, check out our other support articles on the Rules Engine.