2.1 System Requirements and Environment Prerequisites

Before you begin working with QUALIA Rule Engine, it is important to verify that your Business Central environment meets the necessary technical requirements and that you have the appropriate permissions and licenses to access the system.

Platform and Version Requirements

QUALIA Rule Engine requires Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central version 22.0 or higher. The system is built using the AL language runtime version 16.0 and leverages platform capabilities that were introduced in Business Central 22.0, including the GlobalTriggerManagement framework that enables business rules to execute automatically in response to database changes.

The QUALIA Rule Engine extension must be installed in your Business Central environment by a system administrator or partner with the appropriate permissions to publish and install extensions. The current version is 1.1.0.4, and you should verify that this version (or a later version) is installed and enabled. Check which extensions are installed by searching for "Extension Management" in Business Central and locating "QUALIA Rule Engine" in the list of installed extensions.

User Permissions and Security

To work with QUALIA Rule Engine, your user account must be assigned one or more permission sets that grant access to the QUALIA Rule Engine objects and functionality. The specific permission sets you need depend on what tasks you will be performing:

• QUA_All Users: Read-only access to view business rules and check the validation log

• QUA Business Rules UnLicensed: Create and modify business rules

• QUA Email Notification UnLicensed: Configure email action types

• QUA Power Automate Connector UnLicensed: Configure Power Automate integration

• QUA Universal Default Values UnLicensed: Use Assign actions

• QUA Advanced Workflow UnLicensed: Use Custom Actions

• QUA Power Automate Connector UnLicensed: Use Power Automate actions

Contact your system administrator if you need additional permission sets assigned to your user account.

Supported Deployment Environments

QUALIA Rule Engine supports multiple Business Central deployment models:

Business Central Online (SaaS) - Fully supported. This is the deployment model most organizations use today. When deployed in Business Central Online, the system benefits from Microsoft's cloud infrastructure, automatic updates, and integration capabilities with Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and other cloud services.

Business Central On-Premises - Fully supported. Organizations that maintain their Business Central installation on their own servers or in their own data centers can use QUALIA Rule Engine. On-premises deployments require system administrators to manage extension installation, updates, and configuration according to organizational change management procedures.

Sandbox Environments - Strongly recommended for testing business rules before deploying them to production. Sandbox environments are copies of your production environment that allow you to test configuration changes without risk of affecting real business data or disrupting live operations.

📋 NOTE: Microsoft recommends that you always create and test new business rules in a sandbox environment first, and only move rules to production after thorough testing has confirmed they work correctly and do not have unintended consequences.

2.2 Accessing QUALIA Rule Engine in Business Central

Once your Business Central environment meets the system requirements and your user account has been assigned the appropriate permissions, you can access QUALIA Rule Engine functionality through several entry points in the Business Central interface.

To access QUALIA Rule Engine pages using the search function:

1. Open Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central by navigating to your Business Central URL or launching the Business Central application.

2. Locate the search function at the top of the Business Central interface (magnifying glass icon 🔍). This search box allows you to find any page, report, or data element by entering keywords.

3. Enter "Business Rule" in the search box. As you type, Business Central displays matching results in a dropdown list.

4. Select the page you want to open from the search results:

   • Business Rules - Primary page for viewing all configured rule sets, creating new rule sets, and accessing detailed configuration

   • Business Rule Setup - Global system configuration options (typically administrators only)

   • Rule Groups - Create rule groups that link specific users to specific business rules

   • Validation Log - Execution history showing when rules executed, results, and actions performed

Alternative Access Methods

Navigation Menu: If your system administrator has added QUALIA Rule Engine to your navigation menu or Role Center, access pages by opening the navigation menu (hamburger icon ☰), locating the "Business Rules" section, and selecting the page you want.

Tell Me Feature: Press Alt+Q on your keyboard to activate the search function, then type "validation sets" or "business rules" to quickly locate QUALIA Rule Engine pages. This is particularly useful for rapid navigation.

📋 NOTE: After you open QUALIA Rule Engine pages for the first time, Business Central remembers them in your recent pages list. Access recently used pages quickly by selecting the search icon and viewing recent selections, or add frequently used pages to your favorites by selecting the star icon in the page header.

2.3 Understanding the Business Rules List Page

The Business Rules list page is the main workspace for viewing, managing, and creating business rule sets in QUALIA Rule Engine. Understanding the layout and key elements of this page helps you navigate efficiently and understand the status and configuration of your business rules.

List Area and Column Information

The main area displays all configured rule sets in a tabular format with multiple columns:

• Code: Unique identifier for the rule set

• Name/Description: Explains what the rule set does

• Trigger Table: Determines when the rules execute

• Enable: Activation status (active/inactive)

You can sort the list by clicking any column header, resize columns by dragging column borders, and reorder columns by dragging column headers to new positions. Use filters to narrow down displayed rule sets based on specific criteria.

Filter and Search Capabilities

The filter pane on the left side (if visible) allows you to narrow down the list:

• Filter by activation status (show only active or only inactive rules)

• Filter by trigger table (show only rules for specific tables)

• Filter by rule set code pattern (find rules matching naming conventions)

Apply multiple filters simultaneously to create complex filter conditions. The search function at the top allows you to find specific rule sets by entering text that appears in the rule set name, description, or other fields.

Action Bar and Available Commands

The action bar provides access to commands for managing business rules:

New: Creates a new, blank business rule set. Opens the Business Rule Card page in create mode.

💡 TIP: Before creating a new Business Rule Set from scratch, search existing rule sets to verify a similar one doesn't already exist. If found, use Copy Details to copy individual rules, which is typically faster and less error-prone than recreating rules from scratch.

Edit: Opens the selected rule set in the Business Rule Card page for viewing and modification. Double-clicking a rule set also opens it for editing.

Enable/Disable: Toggle the activation status of the selected rule set without opening the detailed card. Useful for temporarily suspending rules without deleting them.

Copy Details: Copies individual rules from other rule sets into the currently selected rule set. Opens a modal window showing all rules from all rule sets. Select one or multiple rules to copy, and the system copies them along with all associated components (conditions, actions, linked tables, reference filters) automatically assigning new line numbers.

Delete: Permanently removes the selected rule set from the system. Business Central prompts for confirmation before proceeding. Deleted rule sets cannot be recovered unless you have a backup.

Send Rule: (If available) Deploys rule sets to other companies within your Business Central environment. Useful in multi-company scenarios for maintaining consistent business rules across multiple legal entities.

FactBox Information Panel

The FactBox pane on the right side (if visible) displays contextual information about the currently selected rule set without requiring you to open the detailed Business Rule Card. Updates automatically as you move selection between rule sets.

Typically displays:

• Number of scenarios in the rule set

• Number of conditions

• Total number of actions configured

• Execution count

• Last execution date and time

This provides a quick overview of rule set activity and complexity without navigating to additional pages.

2.4 Navigating the Business Rule Card Page

When you create a new business rule set or open an existing rule set for editing, Business Central displays the Business Rule Card page. This is the detailed configuration workspace where you define all aspects of how your business rules will behave.

General Tab - Basic Configuration

The General tab contains fundamental properties that identify the rule set and control when it executes:

Code: Unique identifier for the rule set. Specify this when creating a new rule set. Choose codes that are descriptive and follow your organization's naming conventions. Many organizations use prefixes to indicate functional area (e.g., "SALES-" for sales-related rules, "INV-" for inventory rules) followed by a short description (e.g., "SALES-CREDITCHK").

Name: Short, descriptive name that appears in list views and reports. Should be clear enough that users can understand the general purpose without reading the detailed description.

Description: Detailed explanation of the purpose and scope of the rule set. Helps users understand what the rules do, when they execute, and what business requirements they enforce. Clear descriptions are important for maintainability.

Enable: Controls whether the rule set is currently active. When selected, the rule set executes automatically in response to trigger table events. When cleared, the rule set is inactive and will not execute. Essential for managing rule deployment—you can create and configure a complete rule set, test it thoroughly, then deploy it in an inactive state before enabling it in production.

Trigger Table: Specifies which Business Central table this rule set applies to. This setting is inherited by all Business Rules within the set. Must be selected before creating scenarios and conditions because it determines what fields are available in rule formulas.

Trigger Field Configuration: Each individual Business Rule within the rule set has its own Trigger Field configuration, specified using placeholder notation [TableID:FieldID]:

• Specific Field Trigger: [37:15] triggers only when Quantity field (Field 15) in Sales Line table (Table 37) changes

• Any Field Trigger: [37:0] triggers when ANY field in Sales Line table changes (FieldID 0 = any field)

• Multiple Field Trigger: [37:15,18,22] triggers when Quantity, Description, or Unit Price fields change (comma-separated)

💡 IMPORTANT: The Trigger Field is particularly important for OnModify triggers, as it determines whether the rule executes on every modification or only when specific fields change. For OnInsert and OnDelete triggers, typically set to [TableID:0] since the entire record is being created or removed. For OnModify triggers, optimize performance by specifying only fields whose changes are relevant to your business rule.

Trigger Type Checkboxes: Specify which database operations should cause rules to execute:

• Trigger Insert: Execute when new records are created

• Trigger Modify: Execute when existing records are changed

• Trigger Delete: Execute when records are removed

Select multiple checkboxes if rules should execute for multiple operation types.

Linked Tables Tab - Cross-Table References

The Linked Tables tab allows you to define relationships to other tables beyond the trigger table, enabling your business rules to access data from related tables when evaluating conditions. Essential for implementing business rules that need to check data in multiple related tables, such as validating a sales order based on customer credit limit information.

Each linked table entry defines a relationship between the trigger table and another table, specifying how records are related through key fields. Define linked tables by specifying the related table number, fields that join tables together, and optional filter conditions. See Section 18 for detailed guidance on configuring and using linked tables.

Rules Tab - Scenarios and Conditions

The Rules tab is where you create and manage the actual business logic. Contains two subsections:

Scenarios: Inclusion filters that define which records should be processed by the rule set. Scenarios use Business Central filter syntax - when ALL scenario filters MATCH the current record, processing continues to conditions. If ANY scenario filter does NOT match, processing stops immediately. Think of scenarios as "requirements that must be met" rather than "conditions that evaluate to true/false".

IMPORTANT: Scenario logic is counter-intuitive - write filters that MATCH the records you WANT to process, not the records you want to exclude.

⚠️ CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING - Scenario Filter Logic

Scenarios are inclusion filters that define which records to process. This is NOT boolean true/false logic.

How It Works:

1. You write a filter using BC filter syntax: [36:120] is '0'

2. Rule Engine checks if the filter MATCHES the current record

3. If ALL scenario filters match → Processing continues to conditions

4. If ANY scenario filter doesn't match → Processing stops, skip this record

Mental Model: "Write filters that describe the records I WANT to process"

Example - Process Only Open Orders:

Scenario: [36:120]

This filter MATCHES when Status=0 (Open). When it matches, processing continues.

Example - Process Only High-Value Orders:

Scenario: [36:61]

This filter MATCHES when Amount>10000. When it matches, processing continues.

DO NOT THINK: "Scenario must evaluate to true" ← This mental model causes errors
DO THINK: "Scenario filter must match the record" ← This mental model is correct

Conditions: Specific business rules that define what data patterns to validate, what thresholds to enforce, and what business policies to check. Each condition can have actions attached that execute when the condition evaluates to true or false, providing the mechanism for enforcing rules through error messages, validation warnings, automated data updates, and workflow triggers.

Statistics Tab - Execution Information

Displays information about the rule set's configuration and execution history:

• Number of scenarios configured

• Number of conditions configured

• Total number of actions attached to conditions

• Execution count

• Last execution date and time

Statistics help you understand how actively rules are being used and can help identify rules needing performance optimization if executing very frequently.

2.5 Understanding the Rule Configuration Pages

When you work with Business Rules in QUALIA Rule Engine, you navigate through a hierarchy of pages that allow you to configure and manage your rule sets at different levels of detail.

The Business Rule Card Page - Primary Configuration Interface

The Business Rule Card page (Page 72777801) is the primary interface for configuring a complete Business Rule Set. This page displays the overall configuration of a rule set and provides access to all related components through tabs and subpages.

The page is organized into multiple tabs:

General Tab: This tab contains the fundamental properties of the Business Rule Set, including the unique Code identifier, descriptive Name, detailed Description, Enable checkbox to activate or deactivate the entire rule set, Trigger Table selection that determines which Business Central table the rules apply to, and Trigger Type checkboxes that specify whether rules execute on Insert, Modify, or Delete operations.

Linked Tables Tab: This tab allows you to define relationships to other Business Central tables beyond the primary trigger table, enabling your business rules to access data from related tables when evaluating conditions. This is essential for implementing rules that need to check data across multiple related tables.

Rules Tab: This tab contains the core business logic configuration. Within this tab, you configure Scenarios (inclusion filters that define which records to process - all filters must match for processing to continue) and Conditions (the actual business rules that define what data patterns to validate and what actions to execute when conditions are met). This is where the majority of your rule configuration work takes place.

Statistics Tab: This tab displays execution statistics and configuration summary information, including the number of scenarios configured, the number of conditions configured, the total number of actions attached to conditions, execution count showing how many times the rule set has been triggered, and the last execution date and time.

The Quick Rule Card Page - Simplified Single-Rule Editor

When you need to configure or edit an individual Business Rule within a Rule Set, Business Central opens the Quick Rule Card page (Page 72777815). This page provides a streamlined, focused interface specifically designed for working with a single rule at a time, displaying all components of that one rule in a single view without requiring navigation between multiple tabs or sections.

The Quick Rule Card page is organized into clear sections that guide you through the rule configuration process:

General Section: This section contains the core trigger configuration for the individual rule, including the Trigger Field specification (which field changes should activate this specific rule, using placeholder notation like [37:15] for specific fields or [37:0] for any field), Trigger Type checkboxes that can further refine when this rule executes, the Enable checkbox to activate or deactivate this specific rule, and an auto-generated Trigger Description field that displays a human-readable interpretation of your trigger configuration.

Validations Section: This section displays the scenarios and conditions that define the business logic for this specific rule. You can add, edit, or delete scenarios (inclusion filters that must all match the record for processing to continue) and conditions (the actual business logic tests that determine when actions should execute) directly from this section.

Actions Section: This section displays all actions that are configured for the currently selected condition in the Validations section. The section implements a provider-consumer relationship where selecting a condition in the Validations section automatically filters the Actions section to show only the actions that are attached to that specific condition, making it easy to see which actions will execute when a particular condition evaluates to true.

When to Use the Quick Rule Card Page: This page is ideal when you are creating a new rule from scratch and want to see the complete configuration in one focused view. It provides excellent concentration without distractions from other rules in the same rule set. This interface is particularly helpful for users who are new to QUALIA Rule Engine, as the simplified layout and clear section organization makes the relationship between triggers, conditions, and actions very clear and easy to understand.

The Validations List Page - Viewing All Configured Rules

The Validations List page (Page 72777802) displays all Business Rules (validation lines) that exist across all Business Rule Sets in your environment. This page serves as a comprehensive reference view where you can see every rule that has been configured, search for specific rules based on various criteria, analyze which tables have rules configured, and review rule details without needing to open individual Business Rule Card pages.

When to Use the Validations List Page: This page is useful when you need to get an overview of all rules in your system, search for rules that apply to a specific table or contain specific conditions, analyze the overall scope and coverage of your business rule implementation, or quickly locate a specific rule when you know some of its properties but not which Business Rule Set contains it.

Navigation Between Pages

The typical navigation flow when working with Business Rules follows this pattern:

1. You start at the Business Rules List page (Page 72777800) where you can browse all Business Rule Sets

2. You select a specific Business Rule Set and open it, which displays the Business Rule Card page (Page 72777801)

3. From the Business Rule Card, you navigate to the Rules Tab to work with individual Business Rules

4. When you create a new Business Rule or edit an existing one from the Rules subpage, Business Central opens the Quick Rule Card page (Page 72777815) for focused editing of that specific rule

5. After configuring the rule in the Quick Rule Card page, you close that page to return to the Business Rule Card

6. You can also access the Validations List page (Page 72777802) directly through search if you need to view or search across all rules in the system

💡 TIP: If you are new to QUALIA Rule Engine, start by working with the Quick Rule Card page when creating your first few rules. The simplified, focused interface helps you understand how the different components of a rule (trigger configuration, scenarios, conditions, and actions) relate to each other without the complexity of managing multiple rules simultaneously. Once you are comfortable with the basic rule structure and configuration process, you can explore the more advanced features available through the Business Rule Card's Rules tab for managing multiple related rules together.

2.6 Initial System Setup for Administrators

Before business users can begin creating and using business rules, system administrators must configure the global settings that control how QUALIA Rule Engine behaves across the entire Business Central environment.

To access and configure the Business Rule Setup page:

1. Search for "Business Rule Setup" using the search function at the top of Business Central.

2. Select Business Rule Setup from the search results. Business Central opens the setup page with global configuration options affecting all business rule sets.

3. Locate the Enable checkbox at the top of the setup page. This serves as the master control for the entire QUALIA Rule Engine system. When selected, QUALIA Rule Engine processes business rules automatically in response to database triggers. When cleared, no business rules execute anywhere in the system, regardless of whether individual rule sets are marked as active.

4. Select the Enable checkbox to activate rule processing globally across your Business Central environment.

📋 NOTE: The global Enable checkbox in Business Rule Setup overrides the activation status of individual rule sets. Even if a rule set is marked as active in its own configuration, it will not execute if the global Enable checkbox is cleared. This provides a safety mechanism for temporarily suspending all business rule processing without needing to deactivate individual rule sets.

Configuring Number Series for Automatic ID Generation

QUALIA Rule Engine can automatically generate unique identifiers for various action detail records. The Business Rule Setup page includes fields for specifying number series codes for different types of action details (Message Details, Email Details, Error Message Details, Notification Details, etc.).

To configure automatic numbering:

1. First create the number series codes using the standard Business Central Number Series setup (search for "No. Series")

2. Enter those number series codes in the appropriate fields on the Business Rule Setup page

If you do not configure number series, QUALIA Rule Engine will still function correctly, but you will need to specify IDs manually when creating action detail records.

Important Considerations for Session Refresh

⚠️ WARNING: After enabling Business Rule Setup for the first time, or when activating rules on a new trigger table that has not been used before, users currently logged into Business Central must refresh their sessions for changes to take effect. Business Central caches certain configuration information at the session level for performance reasons, and trigger management registrations are part of this cached information.

Users can refresh sessions by:

• Logging out of Business Central completely and logging back in

• In Business Central Online, closing their browser completely and opening a new browser session to ensure all cached information is cleared

2.7 Verifying Installation and License Status

After your system administrator has installed the QUALIA Rule Engine extension and completed initial setup, verify that the system is accessible and understand what capabilities are available based on your organization's license type.

To verify QUALIA Rule Engine is installed correctly:

1. Use the search function at the top of Business Central to search for "Business Rule".

2. Select Business Rules from the search results. If Business Central opens the Business Rules list page without displaying an error message, QUALIA Rule Engine is installed correctly and your user account has at least basic permissions to view business rules.

3. Try selecting New in the action bar to determine whether you have permission to create new business rule sets. If Business Central opens the Business Rule Card in create mode, you have full permissions to create and modify business rules. If Business Central displays a permission error, your administrator needs to assign additional permission sets to your user account.

Understanding License Types and Feature Availability

QUALIA Rule Engine is available with different license options that determine which features and capabilities are enabled in your environment:

Unlicensed/Trial License: Designed for evaluation purposes. Allows use of all QUALIA Rule Engine features without restriction but limits you to having no more than two active business rule sets at any time. You can create as many rule sets as you want, but only two can be activated simultaneously. Ideal for testing QUALIA Rule Engine to determine whether it meets your requirements before purchasing a production license.

Core License: Provides access to basic validation features, including all standard validation actions such as displaying error messages, warnings, confirmations, and creating validation log entries. Allows you to create and activate an unlimited number of business rule sets.

Premium Feature Licenses: Provide access to specific action types beyond basic validation actions. If your organization needs to send automated email notifications or trigger Power Automate flows from business rules, you will need appropriate premium feature licenses in addition to the Core license.

To check your current license status:

1. Search for "Extension Management" using the search function in Business Central.

2. Locate QUALIA Rule Engine in the list of installed extensions. You may need to scroll through the list or use the search function within the Extension Management page.

3. Select the QUALIA Rule Engine extension to view detailed information including version number, installation date, and license status. The license information indicates which features are enabled in your environment.

2.8 First-Time User Checklist and Navigation Tips

Before you begin creating business rules, complete this checklist to verify that your environment is configured correctly and that you have access to all needed pages and features.

Access Verification Checklist

☑️ Can you access the Business Rules list page? Search for "Business Rule" and verify the page opens without errors. If you cannot access this page, contact your administrator to verify QUALIA Rule Engine is installed and your user account has been assigned appropriate permission sets.

☑️ Is the Business Rule Setup page enabled? Search for "Business Rule Setup" and verify the Enable checkbox is selected. If cleared, no business rules will execute anywhere in the system. If you do not have access to this page, ask your administrator to verify the global enable setting is turned on.

☑️ Do you have permission to create business rules? Open the Business Rules list page and try selecting New to create a new rule set. If Business Central opens the card page in create mode, you have necessary permissions. If you receive a permission error, ask your administrator to assign the QUA Business Rules UnLicensed permission set to your user account.

☑️ Can you access the Validation Log? Search for "Validation Log" and verify the page opens. The Validation Log is essential for monitoring rule execution and troubleshooting issues. If you cannot access this page, ask your administrator to verify your permissions.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Efficient Navigation

Business Central provides standard keyboard shortcuts that work throughout the application, including in QUALIA Rule Engine pages:

• Alt+N: Create a new record when viewing a list page (equivalent to selecting New action)

• Alt+Q: Activate the Tell Me search function to find any page, report, or action by entering keywords

• Ctrl+F: Activate quick filter function to filter the current list by entering text

• F5: Refresh the current page, reloading data from the database

Understanding Page Navigation Features

Blue underlined text (drilldown fields) indicates you can select the field to navigate to a related page. For example, selecting a trigger table name in the Business Rules list opens the table definition page.

The Back button in your browser or the back arrow in Business Central returns you to the previous page. Business Central maintains a navigation history so you can retrace your steps when navigating through multiple related pages.

Dropdown arrows (▼) next to fields indicate lookup fields where you can select a value from a predefined list. Selecting the dropdown arrow opens the lookup page displaying all available values.

FactBox panels on the right side of pages (if visible) provide contextual information about the currently selected record without requiring navigation to a different page.

💡 TIP: Business Central allows you to customize which columns appear in list views, how columns are ordered, and whether FactBox panels are visible. If the default page layout does not meet your needs, personalize the page layout using the Personalize action in the settings menu (gear icon). You can also add frequently used pages to your browser bookmarks or to the Business Central favorites list for faster access.