Rules

With rules you define how the hierarchy of activities is structured. This means, for example, which activity type or activity type group can be used as root element and how other activity types and activity type groups can be arranged below it.

Example

Let's assume that you have created the following three activity type groups and assigned the activity types to them:

Now you want to define that the activity types of the Plan group can be created as root elements, the activity types of the Campaign group as descendants. The activity types of the Tactic group should only be available as descendants of the Campaign group:

You define these relationships, shown in the previous image with the purple connections, by rules. Note that the rule always states who is parent in the hierarchy, shown here by the wider part of the link.

A rule always specifies the relationship between a parent and a child. You can set activity types and activity type groups as both parent and children. The number of rules is not limited.

One limitation arises from the way attributes work in the background: In the hierarchy, activities additionally and invisibly inherit in the background all attribute values of their ancestors. To avoid inconsistencies due to multiple defined values for an attribute, an attribute can only be used once in a path. Therefore, you will not be able to create a rule where a child activity is assigned the same attribute as the parent.

The consequence is, for example, that you cannot define a direct circle. Let us explain this with an example: You have created a rule where Group A is the parent of Group B. This means that you cannot create another rule by which Group B (or an assigned activity type) can become a direct parent of Group A (or an assigned activity type).

Another limitation: Each activity type and activity type group can only have one parent. This is particularly important if you are building a complex hierarchy.

For examples please note How to Map Your Hierarchy in Rules.

As an administrator, you have the ability to both disable and delete rules. When should you use which function?

  • Disabling : Disable if user shouldn't use the rule anymore. If you disable rule, users cannot create activities basing on the type.

  • Deleting : A rule can be deleted only if no activity exists that uses that rule. If deleting a rule cannot be avoided, all existing activities using the rule must first be deleted. Before deleting activities, check if you might lose data that you need for reporting. If so, consider disabling the rules instead.