diff --git a/pkg/aa/base.go b/pkg/aa/base.go
index 6e40e46d..96746652 100644
--- a/pkg/aa/base.go
+++ b/pkg/aa/base.go
@@ -13,10 +13,8 @@ type Base struct {
 	Comment     string
 	NoNewPrivs  bool
 	FileInherit bool
-	Prefix      string
-	Padding     string
-	Suffix      string
 	Optional    bool
+	Paddings    []string
 }
 
 func newBase(rule rule) Base {
@@ -79,13 +77,27 @@ func newBaseFromLog(log map[string]string) Base {
 	}
 }
 
+func (r Base) Padding(i int) string {
+	if i >= len(r.Paddings) {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return r.Paddings[i]
+}
+
 func (r *Base) merge(other Base) bool {
+	r.NoNewPrivs = r.NoNewPrivs || other.NoNewPrivs
+	r.FileInherit = r.FileInherit || other.FileInherit
+	r.Optional = r.Optional || other.Optional
 	if other.Comment != "" {
 		r.Comment += " " + other.Comment
 	}
 	return true
 }
 
+func (r Base) addLine(other Rule) bool {
+	return false
+}
+
 type Qualifier struct {
 	Audit      bool
 	AccessType string
@@ -109,3 +121,22 @@ func (r Qualifier) Compare(o Qualifier) int {
 func (r Qualifier) Equal(o Qualifier) bool {
 	return r.Audit == o.Audit && r.AccessType == o.AccessType
 }
+
+func (r Qualifier) getLenAudit() int {
+	return length("audit", r.Audit)
+}
+
+func (r Qualifier) getLenAccess() int {
+	lenAccess := 0
+	if r.AccessType != "" {
+		lenAccess = length("", r.AccessType)
+	}
+	return lenAccess
+}
+
+func (r Qualifier) setPaddings(max []int) []string {
+	return setPaddings(max,
+		[]string{"audit", ""},
+		[]any{r.Audit, r.AccessType},
+	)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/aa/rules.go b/pkg/aa/rules.go
index 077a6506..8ab469aa 100644
--- a/pkg/aa/rules.go
+++ b/pkg/aa/rules.go
@@ -37,12 +37,16 @@ func (k Kind) Tok() string {
 
 // Rule generic interface for all AppArmor rules
 type Rule interface {
-	Kind() Kind             // Kind of the rule
-	Constraint() Constraint // Where the rule can be found (preamble, profile, any)
-	String() string         // Render the rule as a string
-	Validate() error        // Validate the rule. Return an error if the rule is invalid
-	Compare(other Rule) int // Compare two rules. Return 0 if they are identical
-	Merge(other Rule) bool  // Merge rules of same kind together. Return true if merged
+	Kind() Kind              // Kind of the rule
+	Constraint() Constraint  // Where the rule can be found (preamble, profile, any)
+	String() string          // Render the rule as a string
+	Validate() error         // Validate the rule. Return an error if the rule is invalid
+	Compare(other Rule) int  // Compare two rules. Return 0 if they are identical
+	Merge(other Rule) bool   // Merge rules of same kind together. Return true if merged
+	Padding(i int) string    // Padding for rule items at index i
+	Lengths() []int          // Length of each item in the rule
+	setPaddings(max []int)   // Set paddings for each item in the rule
+	addLine(other Rule) bool // Check either a new line should be added before the rule
 }
 
 type Rules []Rule