Working with Forecasts

Forecasts can be created either manually or using scripts. After they have been calculated, you access them from the Forecasts page in the Process Monitoring perspective, where you can rename and delete forecast entries.

Notes:

  • You can only create forecasts for single objects. You cannot create forecast calculations in bulk.
  • To create task forecasts, the task must have a RunID and a start time.
  • The Forecasts list is not refreshed automatically. You must refresh it manually to update the content. Updating this list is particularly important after a (re)calculation.
  • When you create the forecast for Agent jobs assigned to an Agent Group and no agent can be retrieved, the forecast calculation receives the status Waiting for the host of an AgentGroup. If this object is part of a Workflow, the ERT and end time of the Workflow cannot be forecasted either.
  • Objects that are executed recursively are cyclical tasks (see Executing Objects - Recurring). The forecast and autoforecast calculation only considers the days in which these tasks are planned. For example, if a cyclical tasks t is scheduled to be executed every Monday, only the Mondays within the calculation period you have defined are considered. The other days are not relevant in this scenario.

This page includes the following:

The Forecasts List

The information of the Forecasts list in the Process Monitoring perspective is displayed in tree form. You can expand it to show the contents of the Forecast object. If this object contains children, you can drill down in the list to open all items.

Based on the object or task data, the estimated end, status, and runtime of the execution are displayed after a forecast calculation:

  • The Logical Start and Estimated End columns specify the date and time in which the system expects the object or task to start and to finish respectively. Calendar conditions and system workload are taken into account for this calculation.
  • The Estimated Status column indicates the status the system expects the tasks to reach after the execution. The desired status can be set in the object definition on the Runtime page, see Runtime Page.
  • The Estimated Runtime column indicates how long the system expects the task to run.

You can also export the data as a .CSV file, see Exporting Tables to CSV.

Renaming Forecasts

Renaming forecasts is useful if, for example, you have created multiple forecasts and need to give them naming conventions that help you easily identify them.

To rename a forecast entry, right-click the relevant object, select Rename from the context menu, and enter the new forecast name.

Deleting Forecasts

To delete one or more entries from the Forecasts list, select the relevant objects, right-click your selection and select Delete from the context menu. You are prompted to confirm your action.

If you don’t want to confirm every action, select the Don’t ask again until next login checkbox.

Creating Object Forecasts

You can create object forecasts using the FORECAST_OBJECT script function. For more information, see FORECAST_OBJECT. You can also create them manually in the Process Assembly perspective:

  1. In the Process Assembly perspective, select the object for which you want to create the forecast.
  2. Right-click and select Monitoring > Create Forecast.

  3. Enter the Name of the forecast, which must be unique within the Client. By default, the system suggests the name of the object. If it already exists, it appends a number. You can also rename the forecast in the Process Monitoring perspective after the calculation has taken place.

  4. The Logical Start display the date and time on which you expect the object to start. The system uses it as basis for the forecast calculations. By default, the first day of the month is suggested. To change it, click the calendar icon in this field.

    Forecast calculations consider Calendar conditions; therefore, this date can affect the runtime calculation.

  5. If a Job Group is involved in the execution (JOBG), specify how you want the forecast to calculate its runtime:

    • Consider actual entries

      The forecast checks the calculation method specified for each object in the group or parent object. The ERT of the group is derived based on the ERT of the objects.

    • Use ERT of the Group

      The ERT defined in the Group or parent object (Workflow or Schedule) and not the definitions in their child objects is considered for the runtime calculation.

    • Use Fixed Value

      Based on your experience with your objects and processes, you probably already know how long it takes to execute most of them. In this case you can indicate here a specific value.

    Note: If there are no Job Groups, the actual ERT of the child tasks is always used.

  6. Click Create.

Creating Task Forecasts

You can create object forecasts using the FORECAST_TASK script function. For more information, see FORECAST_TASK. You can also create them manually in the Process Monitoring perspective:

  1. In the Process Monitoring perspective, select the task for which you want to create the forecast.
  2. Right-click it and select Create Forecast.

    The Name and Reference RunID of the selected task are displayed by default but you can change both. Changing the name can be useful if, for example, you have created various forecasts for one task and want to differentiate them.

    Generating forecasts based on Run IDs allows you to create multiple forecasts of one and the same task targeting different executions. This lets you analyze different scenarios and react accordingly.

  3. If the selected task is scheduled using a Period object (see Period (PERIOD)), the Periodic Task Forecast day picker is available. Since Schedules defined in Period objects may last forever, this value limits the number of forecasted days for these tasks. The Days value refers to the number of future days to use for the calculation. The values allowed are 1 to 1000 days.

    Example

    Days = 1 The forecast calculation includes the current day (now) until the end of the day (midnight).

    Days = 14 The forecast calculation includes the current day (now) until the end of the 14th day (midnight).

    If the Days value is set to 0 or to a value outside the valid range, the system returns and error message.

    However, only planned tasks are considered for the calculation. For example, if you define a period of 14 days and the task that is scheduled using a Period object is executed every Monday, the task forecast is calculated only for the Mondays within that 14-day period.

  4. If a Job Group is involved in the execution (JOBG), specify how you want the forecast to calculate its runtime:

    • Consider actual entries

      The forecast checks the calculation method specified for each object in the group or parent object. The ERT of the group is derived based on the ERT of the objects.

    • Use ERT of the Group

      The ERT defined in the Group or parent object (Workflow or Schedule) and not the definitions in their child objects is considered for the runtime calculation.

    • Use Fixed Value

      Based on your experience with your objects and processes, you probably already know how long it takes to execute most of them. In this case you can indicate here a specific value.

    Note: If there are no Job Groups, the actual ERT of the child tasks is always used.

    Note: Forecast always uses the current ERT for forecast calculations. If a fixed value is set, it is used for further task executions but not for the forecast. If you want to use a fixed value, you must reset the ERT calculation first and also after the next execution. The fixed value is also the current ERT.

  5. Click Create.

See also:

Script functions: