Creating a Schedule Starting Rule

A schedule starting rule specifies when a workflow will run. You can also assign schedule starting rules to business processes.

Note: A workflow must be published before you can assign it a starting rule, and a workflow must have an enabled starting rule or be invoked by another workflow to be operational.

To create a starting rule

1. In the Rule Manager Pane, select a published workflow and click Add Starting Rule to open the Publishing Wizard.

   

Note: Alternatively, you can open the Rules Wizard from the Publishing Wizard. If you publish using the Publishing Wizard, you will be prompted to create a starting rule. Select the Create a starting rule after publishing checkbox, and click Next to use the Rule Wizard.

2. In the opening screen, name your rule and optionally add a description.

   

3. Select Schedule next to Rule type.
4. Select the Enabled checkbox next to Rule status if you want your starting rule to be applied immediately. If you choose to clear the Enabled checkbox, you can enable the starting rule manually at a later point.
5. Click Next.
6. In the Schedule Properties screen, configure when the workflow will run



• Start on: Type in the date and time the workflow will start on. Alternatively, click the calendar drop-down menu to choose a date from a calendar, and/or click the up-and-down buttons to configure a time.

Note: The default Start on time is five minutes after the time displayed on your computer. Workflow will automatically convert this time to the corresponding time on the Workflow Server.

• Repeats: Click the drop-down menu to select how frequently the workflow will repeat. You can select for your workflow to repeat:
• Never: The workflow will only run once, on the date and time specified above.
• Daily: Click the Configure button to specify if the workflow will run Every Day, Weekdays, or Every __Days.



• Weekly: Click the Configure button to specify what day of the week the workflow will run on and if the workflow will run every week or Every __ weeks.



• Monthly: Click the Configure button to specify on what day of the month and in which months the workflow will run.



• Re-run the workflow every: After you configure when the workflow will run, you can configure it to repeat for a specified amount of time. Select this optional checkbox to configure how frequently the workflow will run during a specified timeframe. Show me an example.

Example: The sales team meets with clients who expect their orders to be shipped promptly. Previously, the sales team submitted all orders to shipping at the end of each day. Now the sales managers bring a laptop to their meetings and fill out the purchase orders on the spot. A workflow runs every day starting at 10 AM that gathers all the purchase orders that have been submitted thus far into a batch for shipping. The workflow repeats every 3 hours for 9 hours. The shipping department gets 4 batches of purchase orders throughout the day, at 10 AM, 1 PM, 4 PM, and 7 PM. This schedule allows them to ship orders more quickly and spaces out their workload.

1. Type in the amount of time between when repeated workflows will start, or click the up-and-down buttons to configure a time.
2. Click the drop-down menu to select Minutes or Hours as a unit of time.
3. Type a time in the text box, or click the up-and-down buttons to configure the number of hours the workflow will repeat.
• Stop schedule on: Optionally, type in an end date for the workflow, or click the calendar drop-down menu to choose a date from a calendar.
7. Click Publish.