Skip case assignment rule- Email to Case

Question

I have cases created through email to case and assigned using active assignment rule. In some criteria , I need to assign the case to the specific owner and want to skip the assignment rule in those cases. I have below method and I call it in the Before update event of the case.

private void updateQualifiedCase() {
      if(!qualifiedEmailCase.isEmpty() && !mapAccountIdOwnerId.isEmpty()){
      //  system.debug('#####'+qualifiedEmailCase);
       Database.DMLOptions dmo = new Database.DMLOptions();
       dmo.assignmentRuleHeader.useDefaultRule= false;
        for(case c : qualifiedEmailCase){
            if(mapAccountIdOwnerId.containsKey(c.AccountId)) {
                system.debug('Hello11');
                c.OwnerId = mapAccountIdOwnerId.get(c.AccountId);
                c.setOptions(dmo);
            }
        } }

Here , I am trying to skip the assignment rule by using - dmo.assignmentRuleHeader.useDefaultRule= false; . However, I see assignment rule still fires and updates the owner back as per the assignment rule. Is there any other way, Database.DMLOptions work?

Alternatively , there is another way I can skip assignment rule using a flag and set that flag after assigning the owner id. However, this approach would require an extra field and update of so many rule criteria

Answer 1

The settings are applied before the transaction starts; you can't modify those settings during a trigger. To fix it easily, create a custom field as you described, set it in the before-insert trigger, and then you can create a single rule entry like:

Skip Assignment equals True

And the Owner would be set to:

Keep Owner