Rule Renumbering - Reduce Burden and Improve Tracking

[JacksonJ-KC]

A few points to set the scene:

• Rule order within a section is mostly arbitrary
• We are assigning a name to the rules within a section that is sequential (not arbitrary)
• When a rule is removed or relocated to a different section, it creates voids in the sequence - prompting rule renumbering
• Rule numbering is currently used to identify the rule
• Rule numbering is also used as the name of the python module that holds the rule logic, the name of the RDS markdown file that holds the rule logic planning, the name of the TCD json file the holds the rule unit testing
• When a rule is renumbered, the only way to trace the old number is to hope that there is a note left in the RDS markdown file or maybe an Excel file with the list of rules through a confusingly labeled columns of ID_OLD, ID_OLD_OLD, etc. which we have been through before.

I suggest we give each rule a reference ID with a truly arbitrary and random string of maybe 4 or 5 alphanumeric characters such as PRM-a9g7 - this ID never changes, regardless of the section the rule is in, or the sequence of the rules within a section. This ID can be used to significantly reduce the amount of work that needs to be done when the rule sequence changes, and also reduce confusion on how we can refer to any given rule during transition periods before/during/after renumbering.