Placeholder Reference Guide

This section provides a comprehensive reference for all placeholder syntax, operators, functions, and special values supported by QUALIA Rule Engine.

25.1 Placeholder Syntax Overview

Standard Field Placeholder: [TableID:FieldID]
References a field on the trigger table or linked table.

System Placeholder: [KEYWORD]
Special values like [TODAY], [USERID], [COMPANYNAME].

Calculation Expression: {expression}
Mathematical calculations within formulas.

Aggregate Function: FunctionName[TableID:FieldID]
MIN, MAX, SUM, FIR, LAS for linked table data.

25.2 Field Placeholder Format

Trigger Table Field: [TableID:FieldID]

Example: [18:2] = Customer.No.

Linked Table Field: [TableID:FieldID]

After configuring Linked Table, use same syntax to reference its fields.

Any Field on Table: [TableID:0]

Triggers when ANY field changes (use with caution for performance).

25.3 System Placeholders

Date/Time Placeholders:

• [TODAY] - Current system date

• [W] - Work date from Business Central

• [CDT] - Current date and time

User Context Placeholders:

• [USERID] - Current user ID

• [COMPANYNAME] - Current company name

Example Usage:

[36:20] is >=[TODAY]  (Order Date >= today)
[18:118] is '[USERID]

25.4 Comparison Operators

Equal / Not Equal:

• is value - Equals

• is <>value - Not equals

• is <>'value1'|'value2' - Not equal to any of these

Greater / Less Than:

• is >value - Greater than

• is <value - Less than

• is >=value - Greater than or equal

• is <=value - Less than or equal

Range:

• is value1..value2 - Between value1 and value2 (inclusive)

Multiple Values (OR Logic):

• is 'value1'|'value2'|'value3' - Equals any of these values

Blank / Not Blank:

• is '' - Field is blank

• is <>'' - Field is not blank

25.5 Wildcard Pattern Matching

Asterisk (*):
Matches zero or more characters.

Examples:

• 'CUST*' - Starts with CUST

• '*-SPECIAL' - Ends with -SPECIAL

• '*DISCOUNT*' - Contains DISCOUNT

Question Mark (?):
Matches exactly one character.

Examples:

• 'C-????' - C- followed by exactly 4 characters

• '??-???' - 2 characters, hyphen, 3 characters

Combining Wildcards:

• 'CUST-*-?' - CUST- followed by anything, ending with one character

25.6 Mathematical Operators

Arithmetic Operations:

• + Addition

• - Subtraction

• * Multiplication

• / Division

Calculation Syntax: Wrap in curly braces {}

Examples:

{[37:15] * [37:22]}  (Quantity × Unit Price)
{[18:59] / [18:20]}  (Balance ÷ Credit Limit)
{([37:22] - [27:18]) / [27:18]

25.7 Aggregate Functions

Used with Linked Tables to calculate across multiple related records.

MIN[TableID:FieldID]: Minimum value
Example: MIN[37:22] (lowest unit price across lines)

MAX[TableID:FieldID]: Maximum value
Example: MAX[37:15] (highest quantity across lines)

SUM[TableID:FieldID]: Sum of values
Example: SUM[37:61] (total line amounts)

FIR[TableID:FieldID]: First value
Example: FIR[37:11] (first line description)

LAS[TableID:FieldID]: Last value
Example: LAS[37:15] (last line quantity)

25.8 Special Considerations

No AND/OR Operators: QUALIA Rule Engine does not support AND or OR keywords. Use multiple Scenarios or Conditions instead.

No Equals Sign (=): Use is keyword for comparisons.

Data Type Matching: Ensure comparison values match field data types (numeric to numeric, text to text in quotes).

Case Sensitivity: Text comparisons are typically case-insensitive in Business Central.