Check orders with validation rules

Validation rules catch mistakes before they cause trouble, for example an order for a customer that always needs a PO reference, or an invoice without a VAT number. A rule is a yes/no check on an order, shipment, Trip or invoice. When a record breaks the rule, Transportial warns the user or blocks the save. A rule only judges: it never changes data.

Open the validation rules

1. Open Settings and click the Variables tab.
2. Go to the section Validation rules.

The table shows each rule's Name, what it Applies to, the Check, When and effect and its Status (Active or Inactive). Click a row to edit the rule, or choose Remove to delete it.

Create a rule

1. Click New validation rule.
2. Under General, enter a Name and optionally a Description.
3. Under When, choose what the rule Applies to: Transport order, Shipment, Trip or Invoice. In Runs on, choose On create, On update, On status change or, for invoices, Before sending the invoice. With On status change you can limit the rule to certain statuses.
4. Under Rule, choose the Check:
   • Conditions: build the rule with filters. Use Only for records that match to limit which records the rule looks at (leave it empty for all), and add at least one condition under These conditions must hold, otherwise the rule is violated.
   • AI judge: write in plain language what must be true in What must be true (answered yes or no by AI), for example "The delivery address is in the same country as the customer's invoice address."
5. Under Effect per channel, choose Off, Warn or Block for the Web app, the Portal and API and integrations (which includes imports). The default is Warn.
6. Under Message, write the text users see when the rule is broken. You can enter it per language; English is used when a user's language is missing.
7. Switch on Enforce this rule. New rules start switched off.
8. Click Save.

Let AI draft a rule for you

1. In Describe a rule in your own words, type what you want to check, for example "orders for customer Acme need a reference starting with PO".
2. Choose what it applies to, or keep Let AI decide.
3. Click Draft rule. The draft opens in the editor with How the AI understood it.
4. Check the conditions and messages, switch on Enforce this rule and click Save. Nothing is saved before that.

The AI builds the rule from conditions where it can, and only uses an AI judge rule when conditions cannot express it.

Test a rule before you switch it on

1. Open the rule and scroll to Test on recent records.
2. Enter how many Records to check (25 by default, up to 200).
3. Click Run test. You see how many of the most recent records would fail, with the reason for each. Nothing is saved.

Switch on the AI judge

AI judge rules only work when AI judge is switched on below the rules table. It uses your platform's AI model. Set the maximum number of AI judgements per day (200 by default). A record that was judged before and has not changed is not sent to the AI again.

What users see

• Warn in the web app or portal: the window Please check before saving lists the broken rules with their messages. Click Back to correct the record, or Save anyway to save it. The record's activity then shows Saved with validation warnings.
• Warn through the API or an integration: the record is saved and the warning is logged in its activity.
• Block: the save is refused with This cannot be saved: followed by the messages. There is no way to continue; correct the record first.

Changes that Transportial makes by itself, without a user or an integration, are not checked.

Check records in a workflow

Workflows have a Validation step that runs your rules on a record and continues on Valid or Invalid. See Build a workflow in the designer.