7.8 Creating Rules

You can automate many GroupWise actions, such as replying when you’re out of the office, deleting items, or sorting items into folders, by using Rules to define a set of conditions and actions to be performed when an item meets those conditions.

When you create a rule, you must do the following:

You can specify many more options to limit which items a rule affects. For example, you can apply a rule to only accepted appointments, to items with a certain word in the Subject box, or to items with a high priority. Use Define Conditions to limit your rules further. See Limiting Items Affected by a Rule.

This section contains the following topics:

7.8.1 Actions a Rule Can Perform

Table 7-6 Actions a Rule Can Perform

Action

Result

Send Mail

Sends a prepared mail message to the recipients you specify when the rule conditions are met. For example, if you need to inform your boss each time you receive a monthly report from another group of people, you can have a rule send a message as soon as you receive the report.

Forward

Forwards items to one or more users when the rule conditions are met. For example, if you are on a core team, you can have a rule forward meeting minutes to extended team members.

Delegate

Delegates an appointment, reminder note, or task to another user when the rule conditions are met. For example, if someone is covering for you while you’re away from the office, your rule can delegate appointments, tasks, or reminder notes to that person.

Reply

Sends a prepared reply to the sender when the rule conditions are met. For example, if you need to be out of the office for several days, your rule could send a reply to incoming items indicating when you’ll be back.

You can also use Define Conditions to prevent replies going to mail list servers and other large groups.

Accept

Accepts an appointment, reminder note, or task when the rule conditions are met. For example, your rule could accept all appointments from a specific individual.

Delete/Decline

Deletes or declines any item when the rule conditions are met. For example, your rule could decline any appointment scheduled for a certain day of the week if you are always unavailable for meetings on that day.

Empty Item

Deletes items from the Trash when the rule conditions are met. For example, your rule could empty items received from a company that routinely sends you junk mail.

Move to Folder

Moves items to a folder when the rule conditions are met. For example, you might want all items with certain words in the Subject box moved to a common folder.

Link to Folder

Links items to one or more folders when the rule conditions are met. Linking an item to a folder lets you view the item from more than one folder. For example, if you have an item that relates to Marketing and Personnel, you can place it in the Marketing folder, then link it to the Personnel folder. You can then open the item from either folder.

Mark as Private

Marks all items matching the rule conditions as Private. When an item is marked Private, you can restrict your proxies from accessing the item. For example, your rule could mark all items from your family members to be Private.

Mark as Read

Marks all items matching the rule conditions as if they have been read. For example, if you are skimming a reply thread in a shared folder and don’t want to follow the thread anymore, your rule could mark all the items in the thread as if they had been read so they wouldn’t sort at the top of the Item List.

Archive

Archives items when the rule conditions are met. For example, your rule could archive all items regarding a certain subject. Archive is not available to use as an action when the triggering event is New Item or Filed Item.

Mark as Unread

Marks all items matching the rule conditions as if they have not been read. For example, you could create a user-activated rule to mark as unread all items you have opened from your manager to remind yourself to re-read or act on them.

Stop Rule Processing

Stops other rules from acting on items that meet the rule conditions. Rules are executed in the order they are listed in the Rules dialog box. If there are other rules that would normally affect these items, this rule action prevents the other rules from executing.

7.8.2 Events That Trigger a Rule

Table 7-7 Events That Trigger a Rule

Event

Result

New Item

The rule is triggered when a new item is placed in your GroupWise Mailbox. Clicking Received lets only incoming items trigger the rule. Clicking Sent lets only items you send trigger the rule. Clicking Posted triggers the rule each time you create a posted appointment, reminder note, or task. Clicking Draft lets only items marked as unfinished, or draft, trigger the rule.

Filed Item

The rule is triggered when an item is placed in a specific folder. If you do not specify a folder, the rule is triggered when an item is moved to any folder.

Open Folder

The rule is triggered when you open a specific folder. If you do not specify a folder, the rule is triggered when you open any folder.

Close Folder

The rule is triggered when you close a specific folder. If you do not specify a folder, the rule is triggered when you close any folder.

Startup

The rule is triggered when you start GroupWise.

Exit

The rule is triggered when you exit GroupWise.

User Activated

The rule can only be triggered manually by selecting the rule in the Rules dialog box, then clicking Run. For example, instead of a rule always moving certain items into a folder, you might want the items to accumulate in your Mailbox until you’re ready for them to be moved all at once. To trigger a rule manually, you must first select the items or folders the rule affects in your Mailbox or Calendar view.

7.8.3 Creating a Rule

  1. Click Tools > Rules, then click New.

    New Rule dialog box

  2. Type a name in the Rule name field.

  3. Click the When event is pop-up list, then click an event to trigger the rule.

  4. If you clicked New Item, Startup, Exit, or User Activated, click one or more sources for the item. For example, click Received and Posted.

    or

    If you clicked Filed Item, Open Folder, or Close Folder, click the folder icon, click a folder, then click OK to display the folder name.

  5. Click one or more types of items you want the rule to act on in the Item Types list.

    If you want to further restrict the items affected by the rule, click Define Conditions, click the appropriate options, then click OK. For more information, see Limiting Items Affected by a Rule.

  6. Click Add Action, then click the action you want the rule to perform.

    Some actions such as Send Mail and Reply require you to fill in additional information.

  7. Click Save.

For a rule to function, it must be enabled. See Enabling or Disabling a Rule.

7.8.4 Creating a Vacation Rule or Auto Reply

  1. Click Tools > Rules, then click New.

  2. Type a name in the Rule name field, such as Vacation Rule.

  3. Click the When event is pop-up list, then click New Item.

  4. Next to And items are, select Received. Make sure no other item source is selected.

  5. Do not make any selections under Item types.

  6. Use Define Conditions to add specific information to your rule. The following are examples of using Define Conditions.

    • If you want to set up the dates during which the rule is in effect. Click Define Conditions, click Delivered in the first drop-down list, click On or After Date in the second drop-down list, then in the date field, select the date you are leaving on vacation. Click the End pop-up list, then click And. On the new line, click Delivered in the first drop-down list, click On or Before Date in the second drop-down list. In the date field, select the date you are returning from vacation, and click OK.

    • If you want to make sure you reply only to items that are sent specifically to you (and not to list servers or newsgroups). Click Define Conditions. If you have already specified information in this dialog box, click the End pop-up list, then click And. On the new line, click To in the first drop-down list, click [ ] Contains in the second drop-down list, then in the next field, type your name as it displays in the To field of a mail message.

    • If you want to make sure that you do not reply to items from yourself (possible through delayed delivery, proxies, and so forth). Click Define Conditions. If you have already specified information in this dialog box, click the End pop-up list, then click And. On the new line, click From in the first pop-up list, click [x] Does Not Contain in the second drop-down list, in the next field, type your name as it displays in the From field of a mail message, then click OK.

    • If you want to reply to internal items only. Click Define Conditions. If you have already specified information in this dialog box, click the End pop-up list, then click And. On the new line, click From in the first drop-down list, click [x] Does Not Contain in the second drop-down list; in the next field, type *@*, then click OK.

  7. Under Then actions are, click Add Action, then click Reply.

    The Reply dialog box is displayed, showing Reply to Sender selected (you cannot select Reply to All). If you want your reply to include the sender’s original message, select Include Message Received From Sender. Click OK.

  8. Type a message, for example:

    I will be out of the office from September 3-September 10. If you need assistance during this time, please contact Martha Robbins at extension 1234.

  9. Click OK.

  10. Click Save, verify that the rule has a check mark next to it indicating that it is enabled, then click Close.

Rules that trigger a reply (such as this vacation rule) keep a record of who a reply has been sent to, and make sure that a reply is sent only once to that user.

7.8.5 Creating a Rule to Forward All Mail to a Private Mail Account

  1. Click Tools > Rules, then click New.

  2. Type a name in the Rule name field, such as Forward Rule.

  3. Click the When event is pop-up list, then click New Item.

  4. Next to And items are, select Received. Make sure no other item source is selected.

  5. Select Mail under Item types.

  6. Click Add Action, then select Forward.

  7. Type the address that you want the items forwarded to in the To field.

  8. Type a subject you want to use for forwarded items, for example frwd:.

  9. (Optional) Type a name of a filter to use for forwarded items.

  10. (Optional) Type a message for all forwarded items.

  11. Click OK.

  12. Click Save, verify that the rule has a check mark next to it indicating that it is enabled, then click Close.

7.8.6 Copying a Rule to Make a New Rule

  1. Click Tools > Rules.

  2. Click the rule you want to copy, then click Copy.

  3. Type the name of the new rule.

  4. Make changes to the rule.

  5. Click Save.

7.8.7 Editing a Rule

  1. Click Tools > Rules.

  2. Click the rule you want to edit, then click Edit.

  3. Make changes to the rule.

  4. Click Save.

7.8.8 Deleting a Rule

  1. Click Tools > Rules.

  2. Click the rule you want to delete, click Delete, then click Yes.

7.8.9 Limiting Items Affected by a Rule

Use Define Conditions to further limit the items affected by a rule.

  1. In the Rules dialog box, click Define Conditions.

  2. Click the first drop-down list, then click a field.

    To learn about what the fields represent, see Understanding Filter and Rule Fields.

  3. Click the operator drop-down list, then click an operator.

    To learn how to use operators, see Using Filter and Rule Operators.

  4. Type the criteria for the filter.

    or

    If a drop-down list is provided, click the drop-down list, then click existing criteria.

    If you type criteria, such as a person’s name or a subject, you can include wildcard characters such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?). Text you type is not case-sensitive.

    To learn more about wildcard characters and switches, see Using Filter and Rule Wildcard Characters and Switches.

  5. Click the last drop-down list, then click End.

    or

    Click the last drop-down list, then click And or Or to further limit the items affected by the rule.

7.8.10 Running a Rule Manually

  1. Click the items or folders that you want affected by the rule.

  2. Click Tools > Rules.

  3. Click the rule you want to run.

  4. Click Run, then click Close.

The rule actions occur after you close the Rules dialog box.

7.8.11 Enabling or Disabling a Rule

A rule must be enabled before it can be triggered. When you disable a rule, the rule cannot be triggered. However, the rule is still listed in the Rules dialog box so you can enable it when you need it again.

  1. Click Tools > Rules.

    Rules dialog box

  2. Click the rule you want to enable or disable.

  3. Click Enable or Disable.

    An enabled rule has a check mark in the box.