Composite Trigger

Composite Trigger

Overview

The Composite trigger consists of Time, Agent File Monitor, Task Monitor, Variable Monitor, and Email Monitor components - which function like Time, Agent File Monitor, Task Monitor, Variable Monitor, and Email Monitor triggers - that allow you to trigger one or more tasks based on correlated events from those components.

Each Composite trigger can contain the following number of components:

When you enable a Composite trigger, all components of that trigger are enabled. Each enabled component has its own event queue. When a component fires, an event is enqueued and the component notifies its parent Composite trigger. The Composite trigger will then check the event queues of all of its components and launch the specified task(s) if a correlated set of events is found.

Note

If a Composite trigger has Restrict Times enabled, its components will be enabled only within the specified Enabled Start and Enabled End times:

  • If the Composite trigger is disabled. the components stay disabled.

  • If the Composite trigger is enabled, and the time is within its specified Enabled Start and Enabled End times, its components will be enabled.

  • If the Composite trigger is enabled, and the time is outside of its specified Enabled Start and Enabled End times, its components will stay disabled.

The Composite Trigger Details provides the following fields for component queue specifications:

  • Time Limit and Time Limit Units specify the length of time that events are maintained in all component queues.

  • Queue Depth specifies the maximum number of events that can be contained in each component queue. If the maximum has been reached but more events are ready to be placed in a queue, the oldest events are discarded.

Built-In Variables

In order to propagate built-in variables up to a Composite trigger, from the files, tasks, and variables being monitored by its File Monitor, Task Monitor, Variable Monitor, and Email Monitor components, the Component Details provide a Variable Prefix field.

  • If a Variable Prefix is not specified, no built-in variables for that component will be propagated.

  • If a Variable Prefix is specified, all built-in variables supported by the component type will be propagated using the specified prefix rather than the reserved ops_ prefix.

Additionally, all components - File Monitor, Task Monitor, Variable Monitor, Email Monitor, and Time - support the built-in variable <prefix>trigger_component_event_time that resolves to the time when the component fired.

Monitoring Component Status

You can monitor the following statuses of each enabled component in its component Details (available via the Components tab of the Composite trigger).
 

Forecasting

Forecasting is not supported for Composite triggers.

Creating a Composite Trigger

Step 1

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

Step 2

Enter/select Details for a new Composite 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).

Composite Trigger Details

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

Composite Trigger Details Field Descriptions

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

Field Name

Description

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.

Simulate

Specifies if the instances generated by this trigger should execute under simulation mode, in which none of the tasks execute. Alternatively, simulation mode can be enabled from the Trigger Now… command (see Triggering with Variables and Triggering by Date and Time).

Purge By Retention Duration

Exclude Backup

Retention Duration

Retention Duration Unit

Execution User

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

Composite Details

This section contains assorted detailed information about the trigger.

Time Limit

Amount of time (in Time Limit Units) that component events will remain in their queue before being removed.

Time Limit Unit

Unit of time specified in the Time Limit field.
 
Options:

  • Seconds

  • Minutes

  • Hours

  • Days

Queue Depth

Number of events that are maintained in the queue for each component at any time. To maintain the Queue Depth, the Controller discards the oldest events.
 
Valid values are 1 to 100 (default is 100). If Queue Depth = 1, only the most recent event from each component can be matched.

Restrictions

This section specifies any restrictions that apply to the trigger.

Restrict Times

 

Enabled Start

Enabled End

Special Restriction

Action

Simple Restriction

Situation

Complex Restriction

Restriction Mode

Restriction Adjective

Restriction Noun(s)

Restriction Qualifier(s)

Restriction Nth Amount

Self-Service Options 

This section contains Self-Service specifications for the trigger.

Enforce Variables

Lock Variables

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 Component Events

For enabled triggers; Displays a new tab that lists all components of the Composite trigger and maintains a dynamic count of all events that have occurred for each component.
 

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.

Components

Allows you to define the following components:

  • Single Time Trigger component

  • One or more Task Monitor trigger components

  • One or more File Monitor trigger components

  • One or more Variable Monitor trigger components

  • One or more Email Monitor trigger components

  • One or more Universal Monitor trigger components

Variables

Instances

Notes

Versions

Time Component

Time Component Details Field Descriptions

The following table describes the fields and buttons that display in the Time Component Details.
 

Field Name

Description

Field Name

Description

General

This section contains general information about the component.

Name

Description

Built-In Variable Prefix

User-specified prefix that enables built-in variables to be propagated up to the Composite trigger.

Status