Alerts in D365FO are a standard feature that automatically notify users about important events in the system.

Based on feedback from community discussions, forums, customer meetings, and our own experience, we realized that the standard alert framework has room for improvement. Step by step, we started enhancing it by adding new features.

We call all these Docentric improvements Alerts ++, or in other words: Alerts on steroids 😊.

The purpose of this article is to list all Docentric Alert improvements in one place and provide links to other relevant resources where these improvements are explained or demonstrated in greater detail.

Create Alert in a Single Click

Standard D365FO:
Creating alerts for line-level data requires workarounds and multiple manual steps using the Table browser.

Docentric Alerts:
Alerts can be created directly from the form with a single right-click on any field and selecting Create custom alert from the context menu. A standard alert rule creation form opens with values automatically pre-populated based on the selection.

In the following video, you can see how we created an alert rule for the Unit price field on the Purchase order line.

Recommended reading

• Create Alert in a ⚡Single Click in D365FO: Article with detailed instructions on how to create an alert rule for the Unit price on Purchase order lines, either by using the Create custom alert option or via the Table Browser.

Raised awareness of conditional alert rules

Standard D365FO:
When you create an alert, it is automatically linked to the filter you have previously set on the form, but this happens “behind the scenes” and is not visible on the Create a custom alert and the Manage my alerts / Alert rules forms. The user may not be aware of this behavior and might get unpredictable results.

Docentric Alerts:
To improve the visibility of such conditional alert rules on both Create a custom alert and Manage my alerts / Alert rules forms, we added a flag that clearly informs you if the rule is conditional (i.e., there is an active underlying filter) and provided quick access to the form where the filter condition can be modified

Watch the next video to see our feature in action, using an alert rule for customers in Customer Group 30 as an example.

Recommended reading

• Improved Alert Rules - Docentric AX: Chapter “Configure conditional alert rules” in this how-to manual demonstrates how filtering a Sales orders form by Open status before creating an alert rule affects when alerts are triggered.
• Create Alert in a ⚡Single Click in D365FO: Chapter “Use the Create a custom alert context menu option” describes how a conditional alert rule is displayed in the Create Custom Alert form when creating a rule for Unit Price on Purchase Order lines.

Convenient modification of the alert rule condition

Standard D365FO:
Once users create the alert rule, they cannot see the exact filtering rule that existed on the form at the time of creating the rule. Often, they are not even aware of the underlying filter condition, so they expect the rule to be applied to all records and get unpredictable results.

Docentric Alerts:
Conditional Alert Rules are configured via the improved Docentric Query form. A link to this form has been added to both the Create a Custom Alert and the Manage my Alerts / Alert Rules forms.

Watch the video to see how the filter for all Sales orders of a selected Customer account is applied to the alert rule and can be adjusted in the Query form.

Recommended reading

• Create Alert Rules for Filtered Records: Article demonstrating how to get notified when the Quantity field changes on Sales Order lines with Warehouse = 13, and how to later modify this condition.
• Improved Alert Rules - Docentric AX: Following the chapter “Configure conditional alert rules”, shows a use case where filtering a form before creating an alert rule (e.g., Sales orders with Status = Open) affects both when alerts are triggered and how the filter appears in the Docentric Query form.

Extra tips

• Docentric Table Browser for D365FO: This article will help you discover the table field labels you need to create alert rules and show how Docentric Table Browser makes the built-in D365FO Table Browser even easier to use. Good news: it’s included in the Docentric Free Edition.

Notify a User Group with a Single Alert Rule

Standard D365FO:
If you want to notify all your Purch Team members by email when a new Vendor is created, you need to create a separate alert rule for each user.

Docentric Alerts:
With Docentric Alerts, you can configure a single alert for a defined user group. The alert rule can be configured to send both the alert notification and an email to every member of the group.

Watch the video to see how the entire Purchasing team is notified when a new Vendor is added.

Recommended reading

• Notify a User Group with a Single Alert Rule in D365FO - Docentric AX: In this article, please find a more detailed explanation of the use case demonstrated in the video above.
• Improved Alert Rules - Docentric AX: Check the chapter “Target a user group” to learn more about this functionality.

Alerts Summary Emails

Standard D365FO:
If you want to send a single email notification for multiple events that occurred during a certain period, e.g., notify the Purchasing team once a week about new Vendors created in the system, standard D365FO does not provide a solution for this scenario.

Docentric Alerts:
Alert Summary Email feature allows you to send periodic summary emails that include all notifications from selected alert rules and are delivered to the configured recipients.

Watch the following video to see how to set up an Alert Summary Email for a use case where the Purchasing team is periodically notified about new Vendors.

Recommended reading

• Alert Summary Emails - Docentric AX:: This how-to manual provides a more detailed explanation of this functionality.

Alert Emailing Enhancements

Docentric significantly extends the standard D365FO alert emailing capabilities.

Standard D365FO:

• Sends basic alert emails without using templates.
• Emails are sent synchronously.
• Does not support Cc or Bcc recipients.
• Recipients are static, with no placeholders available.

Docentric Alerts:

• Use Organization or System Email templates for Alert emails
  Check out the following video to see how a standard alert email looks and how it can appear when using Docentric features to create the alert email.

• Send Alert emails synchronously or via Email distributor batch
  See how alert emails can be sent immediately or via Email distributor batch job, depending on your setup.
  

• Use Cc and Bcc in Alert email messages.
  Next video demonstrates how to add Cc and Bcc recipients to alert emails.

• Use placeholders in To, Cc, and Bcc fields bound to user- or alert-related contact email addresses
  In the next video, see how you can notify the entire Purchase team when a new Vendor is added.

Recommended reading

• Improved Alert Emails - Docentric AX: See the “Create a custom alert” chapter in this how-to manual for a detailed explanation of the functionality.
• Improved Alert Email Notifications in D365FO: Watch the video in this article for a full overview of the Alert Emailing and Email Template improvements.

Improved email templates

Docentric improves D365FO System and Organization email templates, enabling their use for alert functionality when sending alert email notifications.

Standard D365FO:

• No support for templates, placeholders, dynamic content, or attachments

Docentric Alerts:

• Use System or Organization email templates for Alert emails.
  In the next video, we’ll show you how to use an Organization email template to receive an alert email notification when a Sales Order confirmation is created.

• In Email templates use placeholders bound to alert-related data.
  If you want to create an email containing alert-related data, watch the next video to see how it’s done.

• All Standard placeholders such as Alert message and Link to business data are supported.
  In the email body, you can use standard placeholders to show who created the Vendor, when, and their position in the company. See this in the next video.

• Create Custom placeholders via ETH classes, including dynamic images and tables.
  You want to receive an email when a Sales Order is confirmed? We made it possible to include both header and line details. See it in the next video.

• Use Tags to mark those alert-related Attachments that should be attached to Alert emails.
  Want to include Document Management attachments in your Sales Order confirmation alert email? Watch the next video to see how.

Recommended reading

• Improved Alert Emails - Docentric AX: Read the “Create a custom alert” chapter in this how-to manual for a more detailed explanation of the functionality we’ve described.
• Improved Email Templates - Docentric AX: Check this how-to manual for additional guidance on email templates.
• Improved Alert Email Notifications in D365FO: Watch the video in this article for a complete overview of the Alert Emailing and Email Template improvements.

Improved Alert Rules Management

We’ve added several improvements to the Manage my alerts (for all users) and Alert Rules (for administrators) forms, which are listed in this chapter.

• Enhanced filters
  In the next video, see how to view all alerts for which you receive notifications, whether you are their owner, or you are not the owner but are included as a member of the assigned User Group.

• Grid view and bulk deletion
  This video shows how to get the tabular view of alert rules, how to delete (also in bulk) alert rules, and how to review all notifications generated for a selected alert rule.

• Alert notifications
  In the next video, learn how to view all notifications for a selected alert rule.

• System fields
  System fields of the Alert Rules (EventRule) table are now visible in a new System fields fast tab on the Alert forms. See this improvement in the next video.

Recommended reading

• Improved Alert Rules - Docentric AX: This how-to manual provides a more detailed explanation of the functionality described in this chapter.
• Notify a User Group with a Single Alert Rule in D365FO - Docentric AX: Read the “Managing the alert rules” topic in this article for additional guidance.

Improved Alert Security

Docentric introduced dedicated roles and privileges to manage alerts efficiently. We created the following security artifacts for Improved Alert Rules Role:

• Docentric AX Alert Administrator (DocentricAXAlertAdmin), with a purpose to enable regular users to manage all alert rules in the same way as System administrator.
• Privilege: Docentric AX Alert User Group Maintain (DocentricAXAlertUserGroupMaintain), with a purpose to enable regular users to manage User group ID (set/change/clear) on their alert rules.

Recommended reading

• Security for Non-Reporting Features - Docentric AX: For this functionality, read the topic “Improved Alerts security” in this article for additional guidance.

See Also

Batch Job Alerts and Export (Large Untruncated) Batch Job Logs >>