A method for automatically updating a customer-support ticket in an online customer-support system, comprising: when the customer-support ticket is created or updated, applying a set of triggers, which modify the ticket based on business rules, to the ticket; wherein each trigger in the set of triggers performs one or more actions that modify the ticket when conditions for parameters associated with the ticket are satisfied; and wherein applying the set of triggers involves, evaluating condition nodes in condition graphs for the set of triggers, wherein a condition graph for a trigger is a directed graph comprised of condition nodes that specify conditions on one or more parameters associated with the ticket, wherein prior to runtime each condition graph is converted into one or more linear trigger paths through condition nodes in the condition graph, and wherein the one or more trigger paths are subsequently evaluated to determine whether the associated trigger will fire, wherein evaluating the condition nodes in the condition graphs involves performing one or more range-searching operations, searching for parameters associated with the ticket, to quickly evaluate condition nodes for frequently occurring parameters in the condition graphs and determine satisfied and unsatisfied condition nodes, wherein a trigger path becomes unsatisfiable whenever a condition node in the trigger path is evaluated as unsatisfied, and wherein unsatisfiable trigger paths are not evaluated while applying the set of triggers to the ticket, and if a valid path through a condition graph comprising satisfied condition nodes is discovered, firing a trigger associated with the condition graph. when the customer-support ticket is created or updated, applying a set of triggers, which modify the ticket based on business rules, to the ticket; wherein each trigger in the set of triggers performs one or more actions that modify the ticket when conditions for parameters associated with the ticket are satisfied; and wherein applying the set of triggers involves, evaluating condition nodes in condition graphs for the set of triggers, wherein a condition graph for a trigger is a directed graph comprised of condition nodes that specify conditions on one or more parameters associated with the ticket, wherein prior to runtime each condition graph is converted into one or more linear trigger paths through condition nodes in the condition graph, and wherein the one or more trigger paths are subsequently evaluated to determine whether the associated trigger will fire, wherein evaluating the condition nodes in the condition graphs involves performing one or more range-searching operations, searching for parameters associated with the ticket, to quickly evaluate condition nodes for frequently occurring parameters in the condition graphs and determine satisfied and unsatisfied condition nodes, wherein a trigger path becomes unsatisfiable whenever a condition node in the trigger path is evaluated as unsatisfied, and wherein unsatisfiable trigger paths are not evaluated while applying the set of triggers to the ticket, and if a valid path through a condition graph comprising satisfied condition nodes is discovered, firing a trigger associated with the condition graph. evaluating condition nodes in condition graphs for the set of triggers, wherein a condition graph for a trigger is a directed graph comprised of condition nodes that specify conditions on one or more parameters associated with the ticket, wherein prior to runtime each condition graph is converted into one or more linear trigger paths through condition nodes in the condition graph, and wherein the one or more trigger paths are subsequently evaluated to determine whether the associated trigger will fire, wherein evaluating the condition nodes in the condition graphs involves performing one or more range-searching operations, searching for parameters associated with the ticket, to quickly evaluate condition nodes for frequently occurring parameters in the condition graphs and determine satisfied and unsatisfied condition nodes, wherein a trigger path becomes unsatisfiable whenever a condition node in the trigger path is evaluated as unsatisfied, and wherein unsatisfiable trigger paths are not evaluated while applying the set of triggers to the ticket, and if a valid path through a condition graph comprising satisfied condition nodes is discovered, firing a trigger associated with the condition graph.