Working with Event Triggers

There are two types of triggers, manual and automatic. When a manual trigger is used, the tracked issue displays a button that enables the user to manually initiate the event. All other triggers are automatic. For automatic triggers, the system checks the value of the field specified in the trigger each time information is saved on the associated entity.

When you select a trigger, the system displays additional fields depending on the trigger selected. The following table describes the fields that are displayed with the selection of each trigger and how to use each field.

Using Date-Based Evaluation Triggers

The system automatically runs date-based evaluation triggers for system events and issues once a day (by default, at 1:00AM) to evaluate whether they should be fired. For example, if you want to remind a vendor that a certain certification deadline is coming, you would set an issue or event to be triggered on Certification End Date minus 10 days to prompt the system to send out reminder information.

This date evaluation process is performed by the DateTriggerService. If your agency uses date-based evaluation triggers, it is important that the DateTriggerService be monitored to make sure it is running at all times. If the service is turned off either manually or through a system failure, then the system will not run date-based evaluation triggers daily.

Note: To prevent the DateTriggerService from being unintentionally turned off, you can set the service recovery option to "Restart the Service" in the Microsoft Windows Services Manager. If set, the service will automatically attempt to restart in the event of a system failure.

Trigger	Fields Displayed	Description
Any Change	Field	The system watches for any change to the value in the field you specify. Click the arrow in the Field box, and select the field you want the system to watch.
Compare To Another Field	Field	The system watches for a change to the field as compared to the value in another field. Click the arrow in the Field box, and select the field you want the system to watch.
	Operator	The operator determines how the system compares the data in the field to the specified value. For example, if you selected a numeric field, operators can include Is Equal To, Less Than, and Greater Than. If you selected a date field, operators can include Is On, Is Earlier Than, or Is Later. Click the arrow in the Operator box, and select the way you want the system to compare the data to the other field.
	Field	Click the arrow in the second Field box, and select the field you want the system to use as a comparison to the first field.
	+/-	When you are comparing numeric or date fields, you can specify that a number should be added to or subtracted from the value in the comparison field before the comparison is made. Click the arrow in the next box in the row, and select + or – from the drop-down menu. In the Number field, enter the value that will be added or subtracted.
	Number	Enter a value in the Number field that will be added to or subtracted from the value in the comparison field.
Compare To Current Date	Field	The system watches for a change to the date field as compared to the current date. The system will also check once a day to see if the change in date from the previous day makes the condition true. Click the arrow in the Field box, and select the field you want the system to watch.
	Operator	The operator determines how the system compares the date in the field to the current date. When comparing date fields, operators can include Is On, Is Earlier Than, or Is Later. Click the arrow in the Operator box, and select the way you want the system to compare the field to the current date.
	Current Date	The system automatically inserts the current date.
	+/-	You can specify that a number should be added to or subtracted from the current date before the comparison is made. Click the arrow in the next box in the row, and select + or – from the drop-down menu. In the Number field, enter the value that will be added or subtracted.
	Number	Enter a value in the Number field that will be added to or subtracted from the current date.
Manual	Button Text	For an event with a manual trigger, the tracked issue displays a button that the user can click to initiate the event. All other triggers are automatic. In the Button Text field, enter a label for the button that will be displayed for the event on the tracked issue. Clicking this button on the Tracked Issued component will initiate the event.
Specific Value	Field	The system watches for a change to the value in this field as compared to a specific value. Click the arrow in the Field box, and select the field you want the system to watch.
	Operator	The operator determines how the system compares the data in the field to the specified value. Operators can include Is Equal To, Less Than, and Greater Than. Click the arrow in the Operator box, and select the way you want the system to compare the data to the specified value.
	Value	In the Value field, enter the value that will trigger the event.
Value In Set	Field	The system watches for a change to the field to see if it matches one of values entered in the Values field.
Value In Set	Values	In the Values field, enter the values that will be used for the comparison, separated by commas. Note: The system does not support comparing against values in a set that contain commas. Any comma used here is considered a separator between values.
Additional Condition	Condition	When the Additional Condition check box is selected, the system requires satisfaction of an additional condition in order to trigger the event. Click the arrow in the Condition box, and select one of the following conditions as part of the trigger: Compare to Another Field, Compare to Current Date, Specific Value, or Value In Set. The system displays additional fields depending on the condition you selected. Refer to the appropriate entry in this table for a description of the fields displayed.