Overview

The Agent File Monitor trigger allows you to trigger one or more tasks based on the creation, deletion, or change of a file on a particular machine, as specified by a selected Agent File Monitor task, as illustrated below. For a detailed description, see Launching an Agent File Monitor Task Using an Agent File Monitor Trigger.

Note

Using an Agent File Monitor trigger to trigger an Agent File Monitor task that is monitoring for the creation of one or more files (Monitor Type = Exists) will disable the trigger. You should instead specify (Monitor Type = Create) and check Trigger on Existence.

Built-In Variables

The built-in variables outlined below can be used to pass data where appropriate:

Prerequisites

Before you can use an Agent File Monitor Trigger, you need the following:

A Windows, Linux/Unix, or z/OS agent, which will execute the Agent File Monitor task.
An Agent File Monitor task, which watches for the creation, deletion, change, existence, or non-existence of a file.

Note

Any changes made to an Agent File Monitor task are not recognized by its respective Agent File Monitor Triggers until those Triggers are disabled and re-enabled.

Creating an Agent File Monitor Trigger

Step 1	From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Triggers > Agent File Monitor Triggers. The Agent File Monitor Triggers list displays. To the right of the list, Agent File Monitor Trigger Details for a new Agent File Monitor trigger displays.
Step 2	Enter/select Details for a new Agent File Monitor trigger, using the field descriptions below as a guide. Required fields display an asterisk ( * ) after the field name. Default values for fields, if available, display automatically. To display more of the Details fields on the screen, you can either: Use the scroll bar. Temporarily hide the list above the Details. Click the button above the list to display a pop-up version of the Details.
Step 3	Click a 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).

Agent File Monitor Trigger Details

The following Agent File Monitor Trigger Details is for an existing Agent File Monitor trigger. See the field descriptions, below, for a description of the fields that display in the Agent File Monitor Trigger Details.

Agent File Monitor Trigger Details Field Descriptions

The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs that display in the Agent File Monitor Trigger Details.

Field Name	Description
General	This section contains general information about the trigger.
Name	Name used within the Controller to identify this trigger. It can contain a maximum of 255 alphanumerics. It is the responsibility of the user to develop a workable naming scheme for triggers.
Version	System-supplied; version number of the current record, which is incremented by the system every time a user updates a record. Click the Versions tab to view previous versions. For details, see Record Versioning.
Description	Description of this record. Maximum length is 255 characters.
Member of Business Services	User-defined; Allows you to select one or more Business Services that this record belongs to. (You also can Check All or Uncheck All Business Services for this record.) You can select up to 62 Business Services for any record type, and enter a maximum of 2048 characters for each Business Service. If the Business Service Visibility Restricted Universal Controller system property is set to true, depending on your assigned (or inherited) Permissions or Roles, Business Services available for selection may be restricted.
Calendar	Calendar that defines the business days, holidays, and other special days that determine the run dates for the task(s) specified in the trigger. Select a Calendar from the drop-down list of all existing Calendars. To display detailed information about a selected calendar, click the Details icon next to the Calendar field.
Time Zone	User-defined; allows you to specify the time zone that will be applied to the time(s) specified in the trigger. For example, if you specify 23:00 and a time zone of Canada/Central, the task will run at 11:00 p.m. Central Canada time.
Task(s)	Name of the task(s) being triggered when this trigger is satisfied. When selecting tasks from the Details, click on the lock icon to unlock the field and select tasks.
Purge By Retention Duration	Specification for whether triggered task instances can be purged by retention duration.
Exclude Backup	If Purge By Retention Duration is selected; Specification for whether qualifying task instances can be excluded from the backup when being purged by retention duration.
Retention Duration	If Purge By Retention Duration is selected; Minimum retention duration for the selected Retention Duration Unit before triggered task instances can qualify for purge. If Retention Duration Unit = Days, valid values are 1 to 366. If Retention Duration Unit = Hours, valid values are 1 to 24.
Retention Duration Unit	If Purge By Retention Duration is selected; Retention duration unit. Options: Hours Days
Execution User	Read-only; Execution user that has been selected (via the Assign Execution User action) to override the execution user of task instances being launched by the trigger.
Status	This section contains information about the current status of the trigger.
Status	System-defined; Specification for whether the trigger is Enabled or Disabled. The user enables and disables the trigger by clicking the Enable / Disable buttons. Only enabled triggers are processed by the Controller.
Next Scheduled Time	System-supplied; for time-based triggers. If Status = Enabled, the next date and time this trigger will be satisfied. See Displaying Trigger Forecast Information.
Enabled By	System-supplied. If Status = Enabled, ID of the user who most recently enabled this trigger.
Disabled By	System-supplied; If Status = Disabled, ID of the user who most recently disabled this trigger. (By default, all new triggers are disabled.)
Enabled Time	System-supplied. If Status = Enabled, Date and time that the trigger was enabled.
Disabled Time	System-supplied. If Status = Disabled, Date and time that the trigger was disabled.
Skip Details	This section contains detailed information about skipping the trigger.
Task Launch Skip Condition	User-defined; Controls when launching a task for the trigger will be skipped. Default is the value of the Trigger Task Launch Skip Condition Default Universal Controller system property. Options: -- None -- Do not skip the task launch. Active Skip the task launch if a previous instance is still active. Active By Trigger Skip the task launch if a previous instance launched by the trigger is still active. Task Launch Skip Condition is not applicable when using the Trigger Now... command and will be ignored.
Skip Restriction	User-defined; Specification for when this trigger should skip and not launch the task(s). Options: - - None - - No skip restrictions Before Trigger will skip if the current date and time is before the specified Skip Before Date and Skip Before Time values. After Trigger will skip if the current date and time is after the specified Skip After Date and Skip After Time values. Span Trigger will skip if the date and time qualifies based upon the specified Skip After Date, Skip After Time, Skip Before Date, and Skip After Date values. Note If Skip After Date and Skip After Time are prior to the Skip Before Date and Skip Before Time, the Span is a "between" period. In this case, if the triggered time is after the Skip After Date and Skip After Time as well as before the Skip Before Date and Skip Before Time, the Trigger will skip and not launch the configured Task(s). If the Skip Before Date and Skip Before Time are prior to the Skip After Date and Skip After Time, the Span is a "not between" period. In this case, if the triggered time is either after the Skip After Date and Skip After Time or before the Skip Before Date and Skip Before Time, then the trigger will skip and not launch the configured Task(s). On Trigger will skip on any of the dates specified in the Skip Date LIst. Default is - - None - -.
Skip Count	User-defined; Allows you to specify that the Controller should skip the next N times this task is triggered. Skip Count is not applicable when using the Trigger Now... command and will be ignored.
Skip Before Date	If Skip Restriction is Before or Span; Date before which the Trigger will skip.
Skip Before Time	If Skip Restriction is Before or Span; Time before which the Trigger will skip on the specified Skip Before Date.
Skip After Date	If Skip Restriction is After or Span; Date after which the Trigger will Skip.
Skip After Time	If Skip Restriction is After or Span; Time after which the Trigger will skip on the specified Skip After Date.
Skip Date List	If Skip Restriction is On; List of dates on which the trigger will skip.
Agent File Monitor Details	This section contains assorted detailed information about the trigger.
Agent File Monitor	Required; Agent File Monitor task being executed. Enter a task name, select a task from the drop-down list, or click the Task Details icon to create a new task. If a task already is specified in this field, click the Task Details icon to view the Details of that task.
Running Monitor	System-supplied; Name of the currently running task instance of the specified Agent File Monitor task that was launched by this enabled trigger.
Restrictions	This section specifies any restrictions that apply to the trigger.
Restrict Times	Period during which the trigger is active. Enable this field and specify the start and end times in the Enabled Start and Enabled End fields.
Enabled Start	If Restrict Times is enabled, allows you to specify the start time of the period during which the trigger should be active. Use 24-hour time.
Enabled End	If Restrict Times is enabled, allows you to specify the end time of the period during which the trigger should be active. Use 24-hour time.
Special Restriction	Enable this field in order to specify additional parameters that tell the Controller how to handle exceptions, such as when the trigger is satisfied on a holiday or non-business day. You can specify simple and/or complex restrictions. For example, you can specify a Simple Restriction that disables the trigger if it is satisfied on a holiday identified in the calendar and/or a Complex Restriction that disables the trigger on the last business day of every month.
Action	If Special Restriction is enabled, allows you to select an action to take on a non-business day or holiday (see Situation field). Options: Do Not Trigger Next Day (run on the next day) Next Business Day (run on the next business day, as defined in the calendar) Previous Day (run on the previous day) Previous Business Day (run on the previous business day, as defined in the calendar)
Simple Restriction	If enabled, allows you to specify an action (see Action field) such as Do Not Trigger on a non-business day or holiday (see Situation field). For example, do not trigger on a non-business day.
Situation	If Simple Restriction is enabled, allows you to select the situation that causes the system to initiate the action specified in the Action field. Options: On Non Business Day On Holiday
Complex Restriction	If enabled, allows you to specify a set of parameters that determine one or more situations when this trigger should not be satisfied. Used in conjunction with the following fields: Restriction Mode, Restriction Adjective, Restriction Noun, Restriction Qualifier. For example, you may specify that you do not want to satisfy this trigger on the last business day of the year or the first day of each month.
Restriction Mode	If both Simple Restriction and Complex Restriction are enabled, specifies whether you want to use both restriction types (AND) or one or the other (OR). Options: And Or
Restriction Adjective	If Complex Restriction is enabled, the type of selection. Options: Every 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Last Nth Example: The last business day of the month.
Restriction Noun(s)	If Complex Restriction is enabled, the day(s) you want to select. Options: Sunday through Saturday Day Business Day Custom Day Example: The last Business Day and Sunday of the month.
Restriction Qualifier(s)	If Complex Restriction is enabled, the period(s) you are selecting from. Options: Jan - Dec Month Year Week Quarter Custom period Example: The last Day of Quarter, Year, and January.
Restriction Nth Amount	If Restriction Adjective is Nth, allows you to specify the value of N. If Restriction Qualifier is Week, Restriction Nth Amount must be <= 7.
Self-Service Options	This section contains Self-Service specifications for the trigger.
Enforce Variables	Specifies whether or not to enforce Override Trigger Variables when using Trigger Now... from the User Interface.
Lock Variables	Specifies whether or not to prevent editing variables when using Trigger Now... from the User Interface.
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	Saves updates to the record.
Enable	Activates this trigger and writes your User ID to the Enabled By field.
Disable	Deactivates this trigger.
Trigger Now...	Opens a Trigger Now... dialog to immediately trigger all tasks specified in this trigger. Optionally, you also can select to: Launch the task(s) specified in the trigger with one or more variables. Launch the task(s) specified in the trigger by a specified date and time. Launch the task(s) specified in the trigger but place them in Held status; they will not run until they are released. For Triggers that launch a single Workflow, specify if Workflow should run with only specific path(s) and/or specific vertices included. See Launching/Triggering a Workflow to Run on Specific Paths/Vertices. Note If you click Trigger Now... for an Enabled trigger that does not have an assigned Execution User, the trigger will launch its task(s) under the context of the Enabled By user. If you click Trigger Now... for a Disabled trigger that does not have an assigned Execution User, the trigger will launch its task(s) under the context of your user name and ID. If you click Trigger Now... for an Enabled or Disabled trigger that has an assigned Execution User, the trigger will launch its task(s) under the context of the assigned Execution User.
Copy	Creates a copy of this trigger, which you are prompted to rename.
Delete	Deletes the current record.
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	Lists all user-defined variables associated with this record; that is, variables that have been defined for this specific record.
Instances	Lists all task instances that were triggered directly by this trigger.
Notes	Lists all notes associated with this record.
Versions	Stores copies of all previous versions of the current record. See Record Versioning.