Timer start event (interrupting)
A Timer Start Event initiates a process instance based on a specified time or schedule.
Please note that a process definition version can accommodate only one Timer Start Event.
Configuration
The Timer Start Event supports two timer types:
| Timer Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Date | Specifies an exact date and time for triggering the event (ISO 8601 format) |
| Cycle | Specifies a repeating interval using ISO 8601 repeating intervals or cron expressions |
The Start Timer Event supports either ISO 8601 formats or Spring cron expressions for defining timer values.
Starting a process via registered timers requires sending a process start message to Kafka, necessitating a service account and authentication. For detailed guidance, refer to:
Timer type details
Date
Specifies an exact date and time for triggering the event. You can use ISO 8601 date format for accurate date-time representation.
When configuring a Date timer, you can set:
- Date: Select a specific date (format: yyyy-mm-dd) using the date picker
- Time: Set the specific time when the timer should trigger
Cycle
Specifies a repeating interval for triggering the event. For the Cycle timer definition, you can use either:
ISO 8601 repeating intervals
For standardized time intervals (e.g., “R5/PT10M” for repeating 5 times with 10 minutes between each)
When configuring a Cycle timer (ISO 8601 repeating intervals) you can set:
- Repeat Every: The interval between triggers (e.g., “2 hours”)
- # of repeats: How many times the timer should trigger (e.g., “3”)
- Infinite: Option to make the timer repeat indefinitely
- Start Time: When the timer should begin (format: yyyy-mm-dd)
Cron expressions
For more complex scheduling patterns (e.g., “0 0 12 * * MON-FRI” for 12pm every weekday)
Activate/deactivate start timer events
All timers can be activated/deactivated in the Runtime section under “Scheduled Processes”:
If a project contains multiple versions with Start Timer Event nodes, a scheduler will be generated only for the ones included in the version set in the active policy.
Usage examples
Date timer example: Employee Onboarding Reminder
In this scenario, the Timer Start Event triggers an employee onboarding process at a specific date and time.
- Start Event (Timer Start Event) - New Hire Start Date
- Timer Definition: 2023-09-01T09:00:00Z (ISO 8601 format) → This means the process will initiate automatically at the specified date and time.
- This event serves as the trigger for the entire process.
- Transition → Employee Onboarding Notification
- Employee Onboarding Notification
- Notify new employee about onboarding requirements by sending an email notification with a template called “Important Onboarding Information”
- Actions: The HR team or automated system sends out necessary email information/documents, and instructions to the new employee.
- After the notification is sent, the process transitions to the Complete Onboarding node.
- Complete Onboarding
- Employee onboarding completed
- At this point, the employee’s onboarding process is considered complete.
- Actions: The employee may have completed required tasks, paperwork, or orientation sessions.
General rules
- Schedulers are generated only for builds that are part of the active policy.
- If you change the active policy, processes with Timer Start Event nodes might appear or disappear from the scheduled processes list if they aren’t part of the active build.
- You can view scheduled processes in the Runtime section under “Scheduled Processes” (available since version 4.6.0).
- When a build in the active policy is updated with new Timer Start Event settings:
- The scheduler is updated based on the new settings.
- The scheduler state (active or suspended) remains the same as before.
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