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Monitoring Activity from the Activity Monitor

Monitoring Activity from the Activity Monitor

Jun 01, 2023

Overview

The Activity Monitor is the Universal Controller central console of activity, a real-time display of task instance status. It displays a list of task instances contained in the Universal Controller All Task Instances table (ops_exec), as controlled by your selections in the Activity Monitor Selections task bar at the top of the list.

A task bar below the list allows you to control displays settings for the selected task instances.

A task instance is the "run" version of a task. Each time a task runs, the Controller creates a task instance and monitors its activity on the Activity Monitor. Each task instance is a separate record.

The Activity Monitor allows you to issue commands against task instances. You can also issue commands from the Task Instances list (and the Task Instances list for a specific task). In cases where the task Details did not instruct the Controller to retrieve output automatically, you can retrieve output manually from any completed task.
 

Accessing the Activity Monitor

From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Task Instances > Activity. The Activity Monitor displays task status information based on the settings in the Activity Monitor Selections Task Bar.

When you first log in to the Controller, the Activity Monitor does not automatically monitor Controller activity, since the Activity Monitor Automatically user preference value, by default, is set to No. You can change this value at any time.

The following is a sample Activity Monitor that is not monitoring activity.
 

You can manually start the Activity Monitor at any time by clicking the Start button in the center of the screen. You also can manually start or stop the Activity Monitor at any time from the Activity Monitor Display task bar. However, on your next login to the Controller, the Activity Monitor Automatically value will determine whether or not the Activity Monitor automatically starts monitoring the Controller.

The following is a sample Activity Monitor that is monitoring activity. 

Note

Once you have displayed the Activity Monitor, it remains open throughout your Controller session unless you manually close it by clicking the x icon in the Activity Monitor tab at the top of the page. (The same is true for the Dashboard Details.)

If you click a page in the Services while viewing the Activity Monitor or Dashboards, a new tab for that page will open. The Activity Monitor and Dashboards tabs remain at the top of the screen if you navigate from them, providing for a quick return to those pages.

Activity Monitor Column Descriptions

The following table describes the default columns of information displayed on the Activity Monitor.
 

Column Name

Description

Column Name

Description

Instance Name

Name of this task instance.

Type

Type of task instance.

Status

Current status of this task instance.

Invoked By

How the task instance was launched. One of the following:

  • Trigger: (Trigger Name) - The instance was launched by the named trigger.

  • Workflow: (Workflow Name) - The instance was launched by the named workflow.

  • Manually Launched - The instance was launched by a user. To determine the name of the user:

    1. From the Activity or Task Instances screen, click the task instance name to open the record.

    2. The Execution User field identifies the user who launched the task instance.

Start Time

Date and time the task instance started.

End Time

Date and time the task instance ended.

Updated

Date and time that this task instance was last updated.

Activity Monitor Task Bar

An Activity Monitor task bar displays across the top of the Activity Monitor, which allows you to select which task instances display on the Activity Monitor.
 

Time Constraint

The Time Constraint drop-down list in the Activity Monitor Selections task bar allows you to select a time frame for which you want task instances to display on the Activity Monitor.

The default time constraint, as specified by the Activity Time Constraint user preference, is 48 hours.
 

Quick Filter

The Quick Filter menu in the Activity Monitor Selections task bar allows you to filter the list with simple, pre-defined criteria so that only task instances matching that criteria within the selected Time Constraint and any selected Filter display on the Activity Monitor.

To display the Quick Filter menu, click the Quick Filter button on the task bar which, by default, is identified as No quick filter.
 

The Quick Filter menu allows you to select any combination of the following filters to the list:

  • Status: Individual task instance status and the following composite statuses:

    • Active = All task instance statuses except Skipped (180), Finished (190), Success (200).

    • Blocked = Waiting (10), Held (20), Exclusive Wait (23), Resource Wait (30), Execution Wait (33), and Action Required (60) task instance statuses.

    • Completed = Skipped (180), Finished (190), and Success (200) task instance statuses.

    • Problem = Undeliverable (35), Running/Problems (81), Cancel Pending (99), In Doubt (110), Start Failure (120), Confirmation Required (125), Cancelled (130), and Failed (140) task instance statuses.

  • Type: Individual task type.

  • Started/Finished Late: Task instance started and/or finish late according to the Start / Finish Late times specified in the task Details.

  • Clear = Clears all Quick Filters from the list. (You can clear individual Quick Filters by deselecting them on the menu.)