Time Trigger
Overview
The Time trigger, similar to the Cron trigger, allows you to specify dates and times at which a task will be triggered.
With both Time and Cron triggers, you can define:
Simple date and times, such as "every weekday at 12:00 a.m."
Specific dates and times, such as "March 15 at 12:00 a.m."
A series of dates and times, such as "every Friday at every hour."
A mixture of specific dates/times and a series, such as "every Monday at 9 a.m."
Complex dates and times, such as "every 3 hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the last business day of the year."
(Read Daylight Saving Time for details about how Universal Controller handles Daylight Saving Time.)
If you want to schedule time intervals for triggering a task on multiple days, use the trigger type (Time or a Cron) that allows you to most accurately select the scheduling parameters (see Scheduling a Time Interval, below).
Creating a Time Trigger
Step 1 | From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Triggers > Time Triggers. The Time Triggers list displays. |
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Step 2 | Enter/select Details for a new Time trigger, using the field descriptions below as a guide.
To display more of the Details fields on the screen, you can either:
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Step 3 | Clicka Save button. The trigger is added to the database, and all buttons and tabs in the Trigger Details are enabled. |
Step 4 | Enable the trigger(s) as desired. |
Note
To open an existing record on the list, either:
Click a record in the list to display its record Details below the list. (To clear record Details below the list, click the New button that displays above and below the Details.)
Clicking the Details icon next to a record name in the list, or right-click a record in the list and then click Open in the Action menu that displays, to display a pop-up version of the record Details.
Right-click a record in the a list, or open a record and right-click in the record Details, and then click Open In Tab in the Action menu that displays, to display the record Details under a new tab on the record list page (see Record Details as Tabs).
The following Time Trigger Details is for an existing Time trigger. See the field descriptions below for a description of the fields that display in the Time Trigger Details.
The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs that display in the Time Trigger Details.
Field Name | Description |
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General | This section contains general information about the trigger. |
Name | |
Version | |
Description | |
Member of Business Services | |
Calendar | |
Time Zone | |
Task(s) | |
Purge By Retention Duration | |
Exclude Backup | |
Retention Duration | |
Retention Duration Unit | |
Execution User | |
Forecast | |
Simulate | Enables the override of the Enable Trigger Simulation Universal Controller system property specification for whether or not to simulate the launching of tasks when triggers are eligible to fire. (If simulation is enabled, only the scheduled launch of the task by the trigger is inhibited.)
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Status | This section contains information about the current status of the trigger. |
Status | |
Next Scheduled Time | |
Enabled By | |
Disabled By | |
Enabled Time | |
Disabled Time | |
Skip Details | This section contains detailed information about skipping the trigger. |
Task Launch Skip Condition | |
Skip Restriction | |
Skip Count | |
Skip Before Date | |
Skip Before Time | |
Skip After Date | |
Skip After Time | |
Skip Date List | |
Time Details | This section contains assorted detailed information about the trigger. |
Time Style | |
Time | |
Time Interval | Note See Scheduling a Time Interval, below, for information on using a Time Trigger to schedule a time interval for triggering a task. |
Time Interval Units | |
Enable Offset | |
Initial Time Offset (hh:mm) | |
Day Details | This section contains assorted detailed information about the trigger day. |
Day Style | |
Daily | |
Business Days | |
Specific Day(s) | |
Date Adjective | |
Nth Amount | |
Date Noun(s) | |
Date Qualifier(s) | |
Date Adjustment | |
Adjustment Amount | |
Adjustment Type | |
Day Interval | |
Interval Start | |
Restrictions | This section specifies any restrictions that apply to the trigger. |
Restrict Times | |
Enabled Start | |
Enabled End | |
Adjust Interval To Enabled Start | |
Special Restriction | |
Simple Restriction | |
Situation | |
Action | |
Complex Restriction | |
Restriction Mode | |
Restriction Adjective | |
Restriction Noun(s) | |
Restriction Qualifier(s) | |
Restriction Nth Amount | |
Metadata | This section contains Metadata information about this record. |
UUID | Universally Unique Identifier of this record. |
Updated By | Name of the user that last updated this record. |
Updated | Date and time that this record was last updated. |
Created By | Name of the user that created this record. |
Created | Date and time that this record was created. |
Buttons | This section identifies the buttons displayed above and below the Trigger Details that let you perform various actions. |
Save | Saves a new task record in the Controller database. |
Save & New | Saves a new record in the Controller database and redisplays empty Details so that you can create another new record. |
Save & View | Saves a new record in the Controller database and continues to display that record. |
New | Displays empty (except for default values) Details for creating a new record. |
Update | |
Enable | |
Disable | |
Trigger Now... | |
List Qualifying Times | |
Copy | Creates a copy of this trigger, which you are prompted to rename. |
Delete | |
Refresh | Refreshes any dynamic data displayed in the Details. |
Close | For pop-up view only; closes the pop-up view of this trigger. |
Tabs | This section identifies the tabs across the top of the Trigger Details that provide access to additional information about the trigger. |
Variables | |
Instances | |
Notes | |
Versions |
A Time trigger time interval lets you specify how often a task will be triggered, but for triggering a task on multiple days, you may not be able to specify the same time every day that the task will be triggered. This could produce unexpected results.
By default, a time interval count begins at 12 a.m.. If you schedule a time interval for a task to be triggered on multiple days, the task will be triggered at the first specified time interval, and then again whenever the time interval is reached. When the 24-hour clock expires, the time interval count does not reset to 12 a.m.; it continues into the next day. If the time interval is not one by which the 24-hour clock is even divisible (2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 12), the task will be triggered at different times than on the first day.
Note
See Daylight Saving Time for information on how it impacts time intervals.
For example, if you want a task to be triggered at the same time every 4 hours from Monday to Friday, a Time trigger will trigger the task on Monday at 4 a.m., 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m., and Tuesday at 12 a.m.. 4 hours later, at 4 a.m. - it will again start triggering the task every 4 hours. Since the time interval (4) divides evenly into 24, the task is triggered at the same time every day, and results will be as expected.
However, if you want a task to be triggered every 7 hours from Monday to Friday, a Time trigger will trigger the task on Monday at 7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 9 p.m., and then - 7 hours later - Tuesday at 4 a.m. The time interval "rolls over" to the next day. It does not restart at 12:00 a.m. when the 24-hour clock expires, and so the task will not be triggered at the same time every day. The same results will occur if you use Restrict Times, below, for the time interval.
Therefore, for scheduling time intervals by which the 24-hour clock is not evenly divisible, it is recommended that instead you use a Cron trigger.
For example:
If you are triggering a task on a time interval, the Restrict Times field lets you select a time frame during which the trigger is active. The task will be triggered at the specified time interval only when the time interval occurs during the specified Restrict Times.
For example, if you want a task to be triggered every 4 hours from Monday to Friday and only between the hours of 8 a.m. (Enabled Start) and 7 p.m. (Enabled End), a Time trigger will check the time on Monday at 4 a.m., 8 a.m., 12 p.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m., and Tuesday at 12 a.m., but only will trigger the task at 8:00 a.m., 12 p.m., and 4 p.m. (the only three 4-hour interval times between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.). On Tuesday at 12 a.m., it will continue checking the time every 4 hours and will trigger the task at the same times it did on Monday.
However, if you want a task to be triggered every 7 hours from Monday to Friday and only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., a Time trigger will check the time on Monday at 12 a.m., 7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 9 p.m., but only will trigger the task at 2 p.m. (the only 7-hour interval time between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.). On Monday at 9 p.m., it will continue checking the time every 7 hours, beginning on Tuesday at 4 a.m., and will trigger the task on Tuesday at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. (both of which are 7-hour interval times between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.).
For example:
The Controller allows you to generate a list of future dates and times that a trigger will trigger the specified task.
Step 1 | Click the List Qualifying Times button in the Time Trigger Details. The List Qualifying Times Input dialog displays. |
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Step 2 | Select a Number of Dates/Times (1 - 1000) that you want to list. The default is 30. |
Step 3 | Select a Start Date from when you want the list to begin. |
Step 4 | Click the Submit button to generate the list. For example: |