Rule management

MyGeotab gives you full access to add, edit, and disable rules depending on your fleet's needs.

Fleet administrators have full flexibility in setting up rules for their database. You can enable or disable built-in rules depending on your needs, edit existing rules, and remove any custom rules you no longer need.

Adding rules

Learn how to add a new rule to your database.

  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rules.
  2. Click + Rule.
  3. Add the basic details for your rule:
    1. Create a name for your rule.
    2. Optional: Choose a color for your rule and select Visible. When the rule is broken, it will be shown on the map by an icon in that color.
    3. Select the groups the rule will apply to using the Publish to groups dropdown list.
    4. Optional: Add any necessary comments to your rule.
  4. Under the Conditions tab, set up the logic behind the rule:
    1. Click a Condition type to open the options for each condition.
    2. Enter the values needed to measure that condition.
    3. Click Add to add your condition to the rule.
    4. Optional: Click the Scroll icon to open the Advanced conditions editor to write your own custom conditions.
  5. Under the Notifications tab, set up notifications for your rule:
    1. Click your desired notification type (for example, Add email).
    2. Specify the desired recipients and any other necessary details, such as notification type.
    3. Click Add.
  6. Click Save.
New custom rules can be found under the Advanced rules section.

Editing rules

Learn how to edit existing rules in your database.

  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rules in the main menu.
  2. Select the rule you want to edit from the list:
    1. If you are editing a built-in rule, click Pencil icon on the rule.
    2. If you are editing a custom rule, click the rule name.
  3. Edit the rule name, color, and comments, and change which groups it applies to under the Name tab.
  4. Remove conditions from a rule under the Conditions tab by highlighting the corresponding text in the Conditions text box and deleting it.
  5. Remove notification recipients under the Notifications tab by clicking the X beside their name under Notifications recipients.
  6. Click Save.
Edits made to rules are not retroactively applied to data generated by that rule. If you want to apply your edits to previously existing data, you'll need to reprocess your data.

Archiving rules

Learn how to archive rules in MyGeotab. Archiving rules is useful when you want to disable a rule without losing exception data associated with it.

Archiving rules in MyGeotab allows you to disable a rule without losing your exception data or when you want to re-activate a rule in the future. This is useful when you want to temporarily pause rules that are used seasonally, or prevent a rule from creating new exceptions while preserving the existing exception data.
  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rulesin the main menu.
  2. Select the rule or rules you want to archive using the check box beside each rule name.
    Note: If you don't see the option to select rules using check boxes to the left of the rule name, set the dropdown marked Select none at the top of the page to Select individual.
  3. Click Archive at the top of the page.
A success banner at the top of the page will confirm the successful archival of your rules.

Disabling built-in rules

Learn how to disable built-in rules in your database to prevent them from producing exceptions.

Note: Disabling a built-in rule deletes your exception data associated with that rule. In order to generate the data again, you will need to turn the rule back on and reprocess your data.
  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rules in the main menu.
  2. Select the rule you want to turn off from the list of built-in rules and click Off.
  3. Confirm your selection by clicking Yes in the confirmation dialog box.
Disabled rules can be re-enabled at any time.

Removing custom rules

Learn how to remove custom rules from your database.

You can remove custom rules from your database, but cannot remove built-in rules. Built-in rules can only be disabled by turning them off on the Rules page.
  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rules in the main menu.
  2. Select the rule you want to remove from the Advanced rule list.
  3. Click Remove, and confirm your selection by clicking Delete in the popup window.
A success message at the top of the page will notify you when the removal has finished processing.

The Publish to Groups feature

The Publish to Groups feature allows you to apply your rules to assets in your fleet to begin tracking events.

Rules must be published to a group in order to apply them to assets and drivers in your fleet. Publishing rules to groups also controls who can view or edit rules in your database.

By default, rules are published to the Company group, applying them to all assets and drivers in your database and making them visible to all users. Users can select a group other than the company group when creating a new rule or on the Rule Edit page.

If a rule is published to a specific group or groups within the company group, it will be available to view and edit for all users in the selected group and its parent group. Any users in a subgroup of that group will only be able to view the rule. In either case, the user will still need the sufficient security clearances to be able to edit or view the rule.

Publishing a rule to a specific group will also only apply that rule to users and assets in that group and its subgroups.

Rule limits

Rule limits help keep your rules working smoothly by automatically archiving rules that are slowing MyGeotab down.

MyGeotab rules are designed to give you the freedom to create custom rules that meet your fleet's unique needs. Rule limits are designed to protect your platform's performance while still allowing you to monitor the data you need.

Rule limits work by automatically pausing (archiving) rules that are putting too much strain on MyGeotab. These are rules that exceed defined performance thresholds and take up an unequal amount of resources in your database, leading to poorer database performance and potential system failures.

When a rule is identified as a potential problem, it's marked with a warning on the Rules page. If the rule's conditions go unchanged, the system will automatically archive the rule after a set amount of time.

Once a rule is automatically archived, you'll receive an in-app banner notifying you of the change. You'll also see a notification on the rule itself on the Rules page. You can click View rule on the notification banner to quickly view which rule is causing the issue.

In order to continue using a rule that has been flagged by rule limits, you can adjust the rule's conditions and reactivate it.

Reactivating archived rules

Learn how to reactivate rules in MyGeotab when you want to use them again.

You can reactivate any manually archived rule at any time without editing the rule. If you are reactivating a rule that was archived due to rule limits, you'll need to edit the rule's conditions before activating it again.
  1. Navigate to Groups & Rules > Rules in the main menu.
  2. Locate the rule you want to reactivate in the rules list and click the Pencil icon to edit it.
  3. On the Edit Rule page, edit the rule's conditions.
    Note: If you are reactivating a rule that was archived due to rule limits, you can click Tips & best practices at the top of the page for guidance on how to set up different types of rules to generate meaningful exception data.
  4. Click the Archive rule button at the top of the page to deselect it.
  5. Click Save.