Chapter 5: Rule Groups and User Management

5.1 Understanding Rule Groups

What Are Rule Groups?

Rule Groups control WHO receives notifications. They filter which users or roles should be notified when a trigger fires and scenarios pass. Without Rule Group assignments, notifications would display to all users, regardless of relevance.

Rule Group Purpose:

• Target appropriate audiences: Sales notifications to sales users, purchase notifications to purchasing users

• Respect organizational structure: Manager approvals to managers, not data entry staff

• Prevent notification overload: Users only see notifications relevant to their role

• Enable role-based workflows: Different notifications for different responsibility levels

How Rule Groups Work:

1. You assign notifications to one or more Rule Groups

2. You assign users to one or more Rule Groups

3. When a notification triggers:

   • System checks which Rule Groups the notification belongs to

   • System checks which users are in those Rule Groups

   • Notification displays only to users in matching groups

📋 NOTE: Rule Groups are managed in the QUALIA Core Rule Engine (base system), not in the Notification app itself. The Notification app uses Rule Groups defined in the core configuration.

Rule Group Assignment

Rule Groups are assigned in the Rule Group subpage within the Triggers & Scenarios section of the notification card.

Procedure: Assign Notification to Rule Group

1. Open your notification card

2. In the Rule Group subpage, click to add a new line

3. Select a Rule Group Code from the dropdown

4. Save the notification

Multiple Rule Groups:

A notification can belong to multiple Rule Groups:

Example: Purchase Order Approval Notification

This notification displays to users in either the PURCH-MGR group OR the EXEC group (OR logic for groups).

Creating and Managing Rule Groups

Rule Groups are created separately from notifications, then assigned as needed.

Accessing Rule Group Configuration:

1. Search for "QUA Rule Groups" in Business Central

2. The list shows all defined Rule Groups

3. Click New to create a new group

4. Click Edit to modify existing groups

Rule Group Fields:

Code (Text[20]):

• Unique identifier for the group

• Use meaningful codes: "SALES-TEAM", "PURCH-MGR", "FIN-USERS"

Description (Text[100]):

• Explanation of the group's purpose

• "Sales Team Members", "Purchasing Managers", "Finance Department Users"

User Assignments:

Within each Rule Group, you assign specific users:

1. Open the Rule Group card

2. In the Users subpage, add lines

3. Select User ID from the user list

4. Save the Rule Group

✅ EXAMPLE - Rule Group Structure:

Rule Group: SALES-TEAM

• Description: Sales Team Members

• Users:

  • JSMITH (John Smith)

  • MJONES (Mary Jones)

  • RDAVIS (Robert Davis)

Rule Group: SALES-MGR

• Description: Sales Managers

• Users:

  • MJONES (Mary Jones)

  • LWHITE (Laura White)

Note that users can belong to multiple groups (Mary Jones is in both).

💡 TIP: Align Rule Groups with your organization's structure and responsibilities. Common patterns: department-based groups (SALES, PURCH, FIN), role-based groups (MGR, CLERK, EXEC), or workflow-based groups (APPROVER, REQUESTER).

5.2 User Assignment Strategies

Department-Based Groups

Organize Rule Groups by business department:

Example Structure:

Advantages:

• Mirrors organization chart

• Easy to understand and maintain

• Clear responsibility boundaries

Disadvantages:

• May be too broad (all sales users get all sales notifications)

• Doesn't distinguish by authority level

Role-Based Groups

Organize Rule Groups by responsibility level:

Example Structure:

Advantages:

• Filters by authority and responsibility

• Prevents notification overload for junior staff

• Ensures appropriate escalation

Disadvantages:

• Requires more groups to cover all scenarios

• Role changes require group reassignment

Hybrid Approach

Combine department and role dimensions:

Example Structure:

Advantages:

• Precise targeting

• Flexible notification assignment

• Scales well with organization growth

Disadvantages:

• More groups to maintain

• User assignment complexity

💡 TIP: Start simple with department-based groups. Add role-based granularity as your notification library grows and you identify patterns where broad targeting causes issues.

Dynamic Group Management

User assignments to Rule Groups can change over time:

When to Reassign Users:

• Role changes: Employee promoted to manager

• Department transfers: Employee moves from Sales to Purchasing

• Onboarding: New employee needs notification access

• Offboarding: Departing employee removed from groups

• Project teams: Temporary assignment to special project groups

Maintenance Strategy:

Monthly Review:

• Verify active users are in appropriate groups

• Remove terminated employees

• Add new hires

Change-Driven Updates:

• Update groups when org changes occur

• Document group assignments in HR/IT systems

• Automate using PowerShell or BC web services if possible

📋 NOTE: Rule Group membership changes take effect immediately. Adding a user to a group means they'll start receiving those notifications right away. Removing a user means they'll stop receiving notifications from that group.

5.3 Testing with Rule Groups

Verifying Rule Group Assignments

Before deploying notifications broadly, test that Rule Groups filter correctly:

Test Plan:

1. Create test users representing different roles:

   • TestUser_Sales (in SALES group only)

   • TestUser_Manager (in MANAGER group only)

   • TestUser_Both (in both SALES and MANAGER groups)

   • TestUser_None (not in any groups)

2. Create test notification assigned to SALES group

3. Trigger notification (modify test record)

4. Verify results:

   • TestUser_Sales sees notification ✓

   • TestUser_Manager does NOT see notification ✓

   • TestUser_Both sees notification ✓

   • TestUser_None does NOT see notification ✓

Validation Log Review:

Check the QUA Validation Log to see notification evaluation:

• Shows which users were evaluated

• Shows whether user was in required Rule Groups

• Helps troubleshoot filtering issues

Multi-Group Notification Testing

When notifications are assigned to multiple Rule Groups, verify OR logic:

Scenario:

Notification assigned to:

• SALES group

• MANAGER group

Expected Behavior:

• Users in SALES group see notification

• Users in MANAGER group see notification

• Users in BOTH groups see notification once (not duplicated)

• Users in NEITHER group don't see notification

Test by triggering notification and checking each user group representation.

This completes Chapter 5. Users understand Rule Groups, user assignment strategies, and testing approaches for role-based notification filtering.