I was able to create the Work Queue successfully using a name that includes the ‘+’ symbol, but when I attempt to open the rule, it throws an error. I’m wondering if Pega has any restrictions on using special characters like ‘+’ in Work Queue names."
TL;DR: Avoid special characters like '+' in Work Queue names—Pega rule resolution may not handle them reliably.
@KrishnaKonda hi!
This is a good question—and something I’ve come up against multiple times. It relates to how Pega handles rule resolution and identifier parsing.
Pega’s best practice is to avoid using special characters in general when naming rules—specifically ensuring they do not appear in the rule identifier (ID field), which is the unique name used to reference the rule in the system. While you may be able to save the rule without an error, Pega’s rule resolution cannot guarantee behavior when special characters are present in the identifier field. This often results in errors when the rule is referenced—such as the one you’re seeing now.
The recommended approach for naming rules is to use CamelCase or Title Case, and to include only letters, numbers, dashes (-), and underscores (_).
Another consideration regarding special characters (not directly related to your question, but worth noting): while we’re specifically discussing the ID field of rules, special characters can also impact other areas and lead to unexpected behavior. For example:
- Pega’s Search functionality uses fuzzy search, but special characters can interfere with this—often returning only a subset of results or none at all when searching fields that contain them.
- Pega’s validation rules frequently restrict special characters unless explicitly configured to allow them.
To summarize: avoid using characters other than letters, numbers, dashes (-), and underscores (_) as much as possible, since behavior cannot be guaranteed. This applies not only to rule identifiers but also to stored data types and work data, as other rule types may be affected by properties containing these characters.
For more detailed documentation on Pega’s naming convention best practices, check out: