QUALIA Rule Engine is a comprehensive Business Rules Management System specifically designed for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The system enables business users and administrators to create, manage, and enforce complex business rules without the need for programming knowledge or custom code development. Whether your organization needs to validate data entry, automate workflow processes, send intelligent notifications, or ensure compliance with internal policies and regulatory requirements, QUALIA Rule Engine provides an intuitive, form-based interface that allows you to configure sophisticated business logic that executes automatically in response to data changes across your Business Central environment.

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 Business Rules Setup page contains global configuration settings that affect how QUALIA Rule Engine behaves across your entire Business Central environment. This page should be configured by system administrators before business users begin creating rules. To access Business Rules Setup: Use the search function (magnifying glass icon or Alt+Q) at the top of Business Central Enter "Business Rule Setup" in the search box Select Business Rule Setup from the results The setup page opens, displaying global configuration options.

QUALIA Rule Engine implements a hierarchical architecture with four key layers: Business Rule Sets (containers), Scenarios (pre-conditions), Conditions (business rules), and Linked Tables (relationships). Understanding this structure is fundamental to creating effective business rules.

This tutorial guides you through the complete process of creating your first business rule in QUALIA Rule Engine. You will learn the fundamental steps required to create, configure, test, and deploy a working business rule that validates data entry in Business Central. By following this tutorial from start to finish, you will gain hands-on experience with the core features of QUALIA Rule Engine and develop an understanding of how business rules are structured, how they execute, and how they interact with Business Central's data entry processes.

Testing business rules before deploying them to production is not just a best practice—it is an absolute requirement for maintaining data integrity and preventing disruptions to business operations. This section explains why testing is critical, how to set up effective test environments, what testing scenarios you should cover, how to use the Validation Log to verify rule behavior, and how to troubleshoot common issues that arise during testing.

Message Actions (Action Type 2) display informational messages to users without blocking transactions. Unlike Error Message actions that prevent records from being saved, Message actions show information and then allow the transaction to proceed normally. This section explains when to use Message actions, how to configure them effectively, and best practices for creating clear, helpful user messages.

Error Message Actions (Action Type 1) are the most powerful validation tool in QUALIA Rule Engine because they have the ability to completely prevent invalid transactions from being saved to the database. When an Error Message action executes, Business Central displays the error message to the user and then rolls back the entire transaction, ensuring that invalid data never enters your system. This section explains when Error actions are appropriate, how to configure them correctly, and critical patterns you must understand to avoid common mistakes.

Confirmation Actions (Action Type 3) display a Yes/No dialog box that allows users to make decisions at critical points in business processes. Unlike Message and Error actions that simply inform users, Confirmation actions implement branching logic where different actions execute based on whether users select Yes or No. This section explains when Confirmation actions are appropriate, how to configure branching logic, and best practices for creating effective decision points.

Notification Actions (Action Type 4) display non-blocking banner notifications at the top of Business Central pages. Unlike Message actions that require users to click OK before continuing, Notification actions display information without interrupting workflow, allowing users to continue working while the notification remains visible.

Email Actions (Action Type 5) automatically send email messages to specified recipients when business rules execute. This powerful capability enables automated notifications to managers, departments, or external parties without requiring manual intervention. This section explains how to configure email actions, how to specify recipients, and best practices for automated email notifications.

URL Actions (Action Type 7, Enum Value 7) automatically open web pages, documents, or applications when business rules execute. This capability enables seamless integration with external systems, provides access to reference documentation or tools during Business Central workflows, and allows business rules to trigger web-based processes or display information from external sources. URL actions bridge Business Central with the broader technology ecosystem that supports your organization's operations. This section explains when URL actions are appropriate, how to configure them correctly, and how to construct dynamic URLs that pass context-specific parameters to external systems.

Assign Actions (Action Type 6, Enum Value 6) automatically populate field values based on business rules logic. This powerful capability enables automated data management, calculated field assignments, intelligent defaults that adapt based on transaction context, and enforcement of standardized values across your organization. Assign actions reduce manual data entry, improve data consistency, and ensure that calculated or derived values are populated correctly without requiring custom code development. This section explains when Assign actions are appropriate, how to configure them safely, and critical warnings about the Validate flag that can cause unintended consequences if used incorrectly.

Insert Record Actions (Action Type 10, Enum Value 10) automatically create new records in Business Central tables when business rules execute. This powerful capability enables automated record creation workflows, automatic generation of related documents or journal entries, creation of log or audit records, and duplication of records with modifications. Insert actions eliminate manual record creation for predictable scenarios, ensure that required related records are always created, and enable sophisticated automation of multi-step business processes. This section explains when Insert actions are appropriate, how to configure them correctly, and critical warnings about data volume and system performance that you must understand before implementing Insert actions

Custom Actions (Action Type 8, Enum Value 8) provide extensibility for scenarios that require custom AL code execution when business rules trigger. While most business requirements can be satisfied using the built-in action types (Error, Message, Email, Assign, etc.), some organizations have unique requirements that demand custom programming logic. Custom Actions bridge the gap between no-code business rule configuration and full-code AL development by allowing developers to write AL code that executes automatically when specific business rule conditions occur. This section explains when Custom Actions are appropriate, how developers implement them, and how administrators configure them.

Power Automate Actions (Action Type 9, Enum Value 9) enable business rules to trigger Microsoft Power Automate flows, creating seamless integration between Business Central business logic and the broader Microsoft Power Platform ecosystem. Power Automate provides hundreds of connectors to Microsoft services (Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Dynamics 365) and third-party systems (Salesforce, ServiceNow, Dropbox, Twitter, and many others), enabling sophisticated cross-platform workflows without custom code development. This section explains when Power Automate Actions are appropriate, how to create flows that respond to QUALIA Rule Engine triggers, how to configure flows in business rules, and best practices for reliable integration.

This section explains how QUALIA Rule Engine executes actions when business rule conditions evaluate to TRUE, how to control the execution order of multiple actions, how different action types interact during rule processing, and the critical behavior of Error actions that can halt execution and roll back transactions. Understanding action execution patterns is essential for designing complex workflows that combine multiple action types, ensuring predictable behavior, and avoiding unintended consequences from action ordering or transaction management.

Linked Tables (also called Source References) are one of the most powerful features in QUALIA Rule Engine because they enable your business rules to access data from tables beyond the primary trigger table. Without Linked Tables, your validation formulas can only reference fields in the trigger table itself. With Linked Tables, you can validate data across related tables, check customer credit limits, verify inventory availability, and implement complex cross-table business logic. This section explains when Linked Tables are necessary, how to configure them correctly, and common patterns for multi-table validation.

This section provides comprehensive guidance on building sophisticated validation formulas that leverage the full power of QUALIA Rule Engine's expression syntax. You will learn advanced techniques for complex conditions, mathematical calculations, date arithmetic, text pattern matching, and aggregate functions.

Rule Groups enable you to assign specific business rules to specific users or teams, allowing department-specific rules, role-based validations, and user-group restrictions. This section explains how Rule Groups work, how to configure them, and common organizational patterns.