Setting up Periodic Tasks

Overview

Periodic Tasks provide a simple way of scheduling Data Flows. This way, users can define when and how often a specific Data Flow should be run within the App.

Setting up a Periodic Task

From the Connection Builder, Periodic Tasks can be set up by clicking on the ‘+’ sign next to Periodic Tasks.

This example will use a Periodic Task to regularly send account managers a report with the App’s CSAT survey results.

In the inspector, select the a Data Flow to be scheduled. In Period, set the scheduling criteria and in Time Zone, select the corresponding time zone.

The Period input expects a cron schedule expression. For help with cron schedule expressions, see https://crontab.guru/. 

Once created, the Data Flow will run at 10, Chicago time, every Monday.

Formatting the Period of time

In order to set the frequency for a Data Flow to be run, the five ‘*’ characters should be replaced in Period following this format:

• The first * corresponds to the minutes
• The second * corresponds to the hour(s)
• The third * corresponds to the day(s) of the month
• The fourth * corresponds to the month(s)
• The fifth * corresponds to the day(s) of the week

You can also use special characters or non-standard values to make a more accurate call:

Tracking logs

In the Stage section when editing a Periodic Task, you can see a log of all Periodic Tasks that have been run.