Scheduler

Description

The Scheduler activity allows you to schedule when a workflow or an activity is started.

Context of use

The Scheduler activity should be considered as a scheduled start. The activity positioning rules within the chart are the same as for the Start activity. This activity must not have an inbound transition.

When building your workflow, only use one Scheduler activity per branch and remember to set a time zone. This allows you to start your workflow at a specific time zone, otherwise the workflow will run in the time zone defined in the workflow properties (see Building a workflow).

CAUTION

The Repetition frequency of the activity cannot be less than 10 minutes. It means that a workflow cannot be automatically executed more than once every 10 minutes.

When designing a scheduled workflow which includes multiple activities, you need to make sure that the workflow is not rescheduled until it is finished. To do this, you need to configure your workflow in order to prevent its execution if one or more tasks from a previously execution is still pending. For more on this, refer to this page.

Related topics:

Configuration

Drag and drop a Scheduler activity into your workflow.
Select the activity, then open it using the button from the quick actions that appear.
Specify the Execution frequency:
- Once: the workflow is executed a single time.
- Several times a day: the workflow is regularly executed several times a day. You can set up executions at specific times or periodically.
- Daily: the workflow is executed at a specific time, once a day.
- Weekly: the workflow is executed at a specified moment, once or several times a week.
- Monthly: the workflow is executed at a specified moment, once or several times a month. You can select months, when you need the workflow to be executed. You can also set up executions on specified weekday of the month, such as the second Tuesday of the month.
- Yearly: the workflow is executed at a specified moment, once or several times a year.
Define the execution details according to the frequency selected. The detail fields may vary depending on the frequency used (time, repetition frequency, specified days, etc.).

NOTE

The Repetition frequency field allows you to space out the times when the workflow is triggered. For example, if you select a daily execution period and the repetition frequency is set at 2 (days), the workflow will be triggered every two days. It cannot be less than 10 minutes. If the repetition frequency is set at 0 (also the default value), this option is not taken into account and the workflow will run according to the execution frequency specified.
Specify when the execution will expire:
- Never: the workflow will be executed, according to the frequency specified, without any limits to the time frame or number of iterations.
- After a certain number of iterations: the workflow will be executed according to the frequency specified, up until the limit of X is reached. The Number of iterations will therefore need to be specified.
- On a specific date: the workflow will be executed according to the frequency specified, up until a specific date. The execution deadline will therefore need to be specified.
Check the schedule of the next ten executions of your workflow by clicking Preview next executions.
In the Execution options tab, set up the time zone for your scheduler in the Time zone field.

For more information on sending delivery depending on the recipient’s time zone, refer to this section or this example of a recurring workflow.
Confirm the configuration of your activity and save your workflow.

Example

In the following example, the activity is configured so that it will start the workflow on a weekly basis, every other Monday at 7am, for an undetermined duration.