Setting Up Data Change Alerts

This guide will help you step by step configure alerts that will notify you about important changes in the Busines Central system.

🚀 How to get started?

  1. In Business Central search for "Data Change Alert Rules"
  2. Open the "AQ | Data Change Alerts" page

Data Change Alerts setup page

🛠️ Creating a new alert

Step 1: Basic information

  1. Click New to create a new rule
  2. Enter Rule Code - a short name (e.g., "NEW-CUSTOMER" or "PRICE-CHANGE")
  3. Add Description - write what this alert should do (e.g., "Notifies about new customers")
  4. Don't enable the rule immediately - first configure and test it

Step 2: Choose what you want to monitor

Option A: New data (Insert Record)

When to choose: You want to know when you add something new

How to configure:

  1. Event Type: Choose Insert Record
  2. Table No.: Choose table (e.g., Customer)
  3. Message Text: "New customer added: %1 - %2"

Option B: Data deletion (Delete Record)

When to choose: You want to prevent deletion of important data

How to configure:

  1. Event Type: Choose Delete Record
  2. Table No.: Choose table
  3. Alert Type: Error (will stop deletion) or Info (only notify)
  4. Message Text: "Cannot delete customer: %1 - %2"

Option C: Changes to specific information (Field Value Change)

When to choose: You want to track changes to specific data

How to configure:

  1. Event Type: Choose Field Value Change
  2. Table No.: Choose table (e.g., Item)
  3. Field No.: Choose specific field (e.g., Unit Price)
  4. Message Text: "Changed price %1: %OLDVALUE% → %NEWVALUE%"

Step 3: Choose notification type

Information notification (Info)

  • Only informs, doesn't interrupt work
  • Good for tracking changes
  • User clicks "OK" and continues working

Error notification (Error)

  • Stops the action and requires a decision
  • Good for blocking unwanted actions
  • User must do something to continue

✉️ Writing message text

Basic placeholders:

  • %1, %2, %3 - Insert main record information (code, name, etc.)
  • %FIELDNAME% - Name of the field that changed
  • %OLDVALUE% - Old value
  • %NEWVALUE% - New value

Examples of texts:

For new customers:

"🎉 New customer in system: %1 - %2"

For price changes:

"� Item price changed %1: was %OLDVALUE%, now %NEWVALUE%"

For errors:

"❌ STOP! You cannot delete %1 - %2. This may affect other data!"

🧪 How to test alerts?

Before enabling an alert live, always test it:

  1. Open your alert rule
  2. Click Test Rule
  3. See how the alert would look
  4. If something's wrong - fix and test again
  5. When satisfied - enable the alert

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Session refresh after enabling rules

After enabling or changing alert rules you MUST refresh the system session for the changes to be loaded:

  • Use the Ctrl+Alt+F5 key combination (recommended)
  • Or click the session refresh button on the rules page

Without refreshing the session, new rules may not work correctly!

⚠️ Troubleshooting

Alert not triggering:

  • Verify the rule is enabled
  • MOST IMPORTANT: Check if you refreshed the session after enabling the rule (Ctrl+Alt+F5)
  • Check table and field numbers are correct
  • Ensure proper permissions for the monitored table
  • Test the rule using the Test Rule function