Rule Notation¶

We keep this guideline lightweight: there is no RFC 2119 MUST/SHOULD/MAY apparatus, and no requirement to phrase every sentence as a formal rule. Most of this guideline is plain prose, examples, and recommendations.

Where a rule is specific enough that you'd want to point to it from architectural documentation — e.g. "deviates from DGT-SRV-060" — it gets a short, stable rule ID so the reference doesn't break when headings get reworded. Not every paragraph needs one; use your judgment for what's worth pinning down.

Format¶

DGT-<AREA>-<NUMBER>

Area	Used for
`FND`	Foundation
`ARC`	Architecture
`CUS`	Customizing
`SRV`	Server-side coding
`CLI`	Client-side coding
`INT`	Cloud & integration
`FLW`	Power Automate flows
`TST`	Testing & quality
`ALM`	ALM & deployment
`OPS`	Operations

Numbers are assigned per area, ascending, and are never reused or renumbered even if the rule is later removed — a removed rule ID is retired, not recycled, so old references in project documentation stay unambiguous (they'll just point to a rule marked as retired).

One-time renumbering during the draft phase (July 2026)

While this guideline was still a draft and no project documentation referenced its rule IDs, the entire scheme was renumbered once (July 2026) so that IDs follow the chapter order. The stability guarantee above applies from that point on.

Example¶

DGT-SRV-060 — Plugin and Custom API projects target the Dataverse plugin package format (.nupkg via dependent assemblies), not classic single-assembly registration. See Plugin Packages.

In architectural documentation, a deviation would then read:

Deviates from DGT-SRV-060: this project keeps the legacy single-assembly plugin because it is shared with a non-Dataverse host process. Reviewed with the architects' circle on 2026-05-04.

Where rule IDs show up¶

Rule IDs are introduced gradually as chapters are written or revised — they are not retrofitted onto the entire guideline in one pass. If a chapter you're reading doesn't use them yet, that's expected at this stage, not an inconsistency to fix.

The Rules Index lists every ID assigned so far, with a link to the rule it names.