Schedule Initiated

Use the Schedule trigger to complete workflow tasks at specific times in the future. You can use a Schedule trigger in conjunction with an Action, such as Run Workspace, or an External Action, such as Email.

The Schedule trigger has two output ports. The success port (✔) can send a message if the trigger initiates successfully. The failure port (x) can send a message if the trigger fails to initiate.

Tip: You can test a workflow that is initiated by a Schedule trigger, regardless of the times the Schedule is configured to execute. See Testing a Schedule-Initiated Worfklow, below.

Parameters

Note: See also Working with Parameters in Automations Workflows.

  • Schedule Type: Specify how often the task repeats:
    • Basic: Repeats based on a calendar-friendly selection of intervals derived from a specified Start time.
    • Repeat On Interval: Repeats in intervals from a list of predefined units.
    • CRON Expression: Repeats based on your own cron expression.

      • Note: Basic and CRON Expression must be configured according to the time zone of the FME Server that runs the task. All other times can be expressed according to your local time zone.

      If Repeat on Interval is specified, the schedule does not adjust when switching between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time.

      Field Required Allowed Values Allowed Special Characters
      Seconds Yes 0-59 , - * /
      Minutes Yes 0-59 , - * /
      Hours Yes 0-23 , - * /
      Day of month Yes 1-31 , - * ? / L W
      Month Yes 1-12 or JAN-DEC , - * /
      Day of week Yes 1-7 or SUN-SAT , - * ? / L #
      Year No empty, 1970-2099 , - * /

      For more information about the cron format, see this FME Community article.

  • Date Range: Specify the schedule Start and/or End times. Alternatively, select Start Immediately and/or Does Not Expire, respectively.
  • Recurrence: If Schedule Type is Basic, specify how often the task repeats from the drop-down selections.

Output Keys

See Also

Key Description
time Event time
source Event type
error.type

(Failure port only) Error type:

  • InvalidMessage: An error occurred while configuring this component, such as missing or malformed values.
  • DeadLetter: An error occured while connecting to an external resource. Examples may include connection issues, invalid credentials, or generic external resource exceptions.
error.message (Failure port only) Error message

Testing a Schedule-Initiated Worfklow

For testing purposes, you can force a workflow that is initiated by a Schedule trigger to run at any time, regardless of the specified parameters of the Schedule.

When ready to test your Schedule Initiated workflow:

  1. Click Start Automation to enable the workflow.
  2. Double-click on the Schedule component you want to initiate the worfklow.
  3. Under Schedule Details, click Trigger.

A Trigger Schedule message displays to indicate whether the Schedule trigger was successfully requested. If so, the workflow runs as it is currently configured.