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Variable Monitor Trigger

Variable Monitor Trigger

Owned by Stonebranch (Deactivated)
Last updated: Mar 25, 2024

Overview

The Variable Monitor trigger allows you to trigger one or more tasks based on the conditions specified by a selected Variable Monitor task.
 

Note

You can select only a Variable Monitor task with a Value Monitor Type = Change.



 

Built-In Variables

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

Prerequisites

Before you can use a Variable Monitor Trigger, you need a Variable Monitor task, which defines the conditions for the variable being monitored.
 

Note

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

Creating a Variable Monitor Trigger

Step 1

From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Triggers > Variable Monitor Triggers. The Variable Monitor Triggers list displays.
 
To the right of the list, Variable Monitor Trigger Details for a new Variable Monitor trigger displays.
 

Step 2

Enter/select Details for a new Variable 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).

Variable Monitor Trigger Details

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

Variable Monitor Trigger Details Field Descriptions

The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs that display in the Variable 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.

Variable Monitor Details

This section contains assorted detailed information about the trigger.

Variable Monitor

Required; Variable 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 (and change, as desired) the Details of that task.

Note

If you click the Details icon to create or update a Variable Monitor, Change is pre-selected for the Variable Monitor Type field and cannot be changed.

Running Monitor

System-supplied; Name of the currently running task instance of the specified Variable 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:

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:

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:


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.

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