Schedule

Starting with the 8.0 release of IBM® EMM, the IBM® Scheduler is intended to replace the Campaign Schedule process for scheduling runs of an entire flowchart. The Scheduler starts a flowchart even if it is not running, while the Schedule process in a flowchart works only if the flowchart is running. Do not use the Scheduler to schedule a flowchart that uses the Schedule process as the top-level process that starts a flowchart run. Typically, only one or the other is necessary.

Use the Schedule process to initiate a process, series of processes, or an entire flowchart. A Schedule process is active for a defined period of time. During that time, specified events might occur that cause subsequent connected processes to begin running. The most common use of the Schedule process is to control timing of the entire flowchart.

You can configure a Schedule process to define the total scheduling period by setting up a time limit in days, hours, and minutes starting from when the process begins running.

Scheduling options are both fine-grained and flexible:

You can schedule a process to run in a variety of ways, including repetitively, by trigger, by calendar, and so on.

You can combine multiple scheduling options, such as scheduling the process to run every Monday at 9:00 a.m., but also to run whenever it is triggered by a specific event (such as a hit on the website).

You can schedule a batch process, for example, to run late at night when it will not interfere with daytime jobs.

There are no predetermined limits on the number of options you can use simultaneously in scheduling a flowchart, providing that the selections do not conflict. (For example, you cannot schedule a flowchart to run both "Once Only" and "Every Monday.")

In general, a process runs only when all of its inputs have run successfully (that is, when all processes connected to the current process have run, even if the dependency is only temporal). However, when multiple schedule inputs exist within a branch, the process will run whenever any one of its inputs completes (an "OR" rather than an "AND" of its inputs).

A contact process with tracking enabled contains an inherent schedule. Using a Schedule process in the middle of a flowchart is an advanced feature. Make sure you are getting the desired behavior and correct results.

If the Schedule process in your flowchart tells the flowchart to run before a previous run is complete, Campaign holds the request until the previous run is finished. Only one run can be held in this manner. In certain cases, this might mean that the flowchart does not run as many times as you expect.

For example, if your flowchart takes two hours to run, and you have a Schedule process that tries to trigger three runs that are only 10 minutes apart, Campaign will start the first run. When the Schedule process attempts to start the second run, Campaign will queue it. When the Schedule process attempts to start the third run, Campaign will ignore it. When the first run is finished, Campaign will start the second run. The third run will never start.

Difference between the IBM Campaign Schedule process and IBM EMM Scheduler

To configure a Schedule process

Scheduling based on triggers