Focus: Rule Engine iQ.Suite für Domino

1. What could be the reason that my rule does not work?
2. At what point is a rule evaluated?
3. What do I have to bear in mind when creating a rule?
4. Can I combine sender and recipient entries?
5. How do I keep track of my rule engine?
6. What do I have bear in mind when defining text rules?
7. What do I have to bear in mind regarding domain rules?
8. Is there a possibility to suppress address resolution?
9. What do I have to bear in mind regarding formula rules?

What could be the reason that my rule does not work?

If, in your jobs, you have specified more than one rule in the “Negated selection rule dependency” field, the setting “all false” will be the correct selection in 99% of the cases. Other combinations occur very rarely. Please refer to the rules of Boolean algebra.

At what point is a rule evaluated?

All rules are evaluated before the first job is started. It is therefore not possible to use another rule at a later stage in order to react to a changed status.

What do I have to bear in mind when creating a rule?

Make sure that all selection fields are filled. Even when an individual selection is irrelevant for your rule, you must select an entry. Example: For an address rule (previously group rule) that is valid for specific senders, you have to select at least “all” (“ignore” before version 8) for the recipient, even though the rule applies to senders only. The rule engines for the MailGrabber and the DatabaseGrabber are physically separated from each other and not interchangeable.

Can I combine sender and recipient entries?

Basically, it is possible to define a sender/recipient combination within a rule, but for better clarity we recommend to define separate rules for the sender and the recipient.

How do I keep track of my rule engine?

To keep an overview of a very large set of rules, it will be quite helpful to use rule names that describe their functionality. We recommend to start each rule name with a prefix in order to distinguish between system rules and your own rules.

What do I have bear in mind when defining text rules?

Text rules are not case-sensitive, i.e. they do not distinguish between upper case and lower case letters. A typical error in text rules is not to surround the search string with asterisks (*). Using search strings without asterisks means that the search string has to match exactly (nothing before, nothing behind). Furthermore, it is not possible in a text rule to search for multiple white spaces (spaces, blank lines, tabs), as these are reduced to a single white space.

What do I have to bear in mind regarding domain rules?

In a domain rule, it is not necessary to specify the characters "*@" or "@", the name of the domain alone is sufficient. Within the search string (or before/after the search string), you may work with asterisks (*). Please note that sender domains are subject to a plain text comparison, whereas an address resolution based on the address book is performed for recipient domains. The tilde character ("~") cannot be used to suppress the address resolution in domain rules.

Is there a possibility to suppress address resolution?

In an address rule, a tilde character (“~”) preceding the search string will suppress the search in the address book. This procedure only work in the address rule (group rule up to version 7), but not in the domain rule.

What do I have to bear in mind regarding formula rules?

The only commands processed are Formula Language commands supported by the Lotus backend. Be sure to observe the differences between Domino versions. Therefore, debugging commands depends on both the Domino version and the current system.