Conditional Rules

What You'll Learn

This guide explains how conditional rules work and how they help automate your application. You'll understand when conditional rules apply and discover common scenarios where they're particularly valuable.

What are Conditional Rules?

Conditional rules are automated triggers that set field values based on defined conditions. Once applied to a field, these rules take complete control of that field's values—making the field respond automatically to changes in your data without requiring manual updates.

For example, conditional rules can:

• Set a Student Rank field to "Honor Roll" if the GPA is higher than 3.0
• Assign a Commission Rate of 5% if an employee's Years of Experience is greater than 2
• Change an Invoice Status to "Overdue" if Days Past Due is greater than 30

How Conditional Rules Work

When conditional rules are applied to a field:

1. The system evaluates each rule in order from top to bottom
2. When a rule's conditions are met, the corresponding value is set
3. Once a matching rule is found, no further rules are checked
4. If no rules match, the field value remains unchanged

Unlike validation rules (which verify data before saving), conditional rules actively set values based on other data in your application.

Note: Once you add even one conditional rule to a field, that field's values will only be set by the rules. You won't be able to manually update the field, and no other updates will affect its values.

When to Use Conditional Rules

Conditional rules are particularly valuable when:

Automating Status Updates

• Changing order status based on payment received
• Updating task status based on completion date
• Setting account status based on subscription renewal

Calculating Values

• Determining pricing tiers based on quantity
• Setting tax rates based on location
• Applying discount levels based on customer type

Streamlining Workflows

• Assigning tasks based on department or expertise
• Routing applications based on criteria met
• Escalating issues based on priority or age

Ensuring Consistency

• Standardizing categorization across records
• Applying consistent naming conventions
• Enforcing business rules across the application

Understanding what conditional rules can do is the first step. To learn how to create and manage them, see the Adding and Managing Conditional Rules guide.