Examples of Period Objects

Period objects allow you to build simple to complex recurring execution schedules. The following examples combine settings in a period object to set up recurring executions for different situations.

Example: Setting combinations with an interval frequency

You want to execute an object so that it runs recurrently with executions that start at regular, 15-minute intervals on the quarter hour. One overlap is allowed if a previous execution did not finish by the next quarter-hour. These executions should run only in the night, when server load is lower, and only on weekday (Monday to Friday) nights.

Settings on the Period page

Assume that, at 21:50 (9:50 PM) on a Thursday, you start a recurring execution with the following period object definition:
- Period
  - Start: Today
  - End: Never
- Frequency
  - in intervals > Every: 15 minutes
  - From 22:00 / To 4:59 (10:00 PM and 4:59 AM the next day)
  - Allow One Overlap: Not Checked
  - Initial Start Time: Checked
- Days
  - Execute > on days of the week: Monday to Friday
Click to expand:
Resulting executions
- The first execution will start at 22:00 (10:00 PM) because Initial Start Time is checked and the intervals are 15 minutes.
- The executions will continue all through the night at 15-minute intervals, stopping after the run that starts at 4:45.
- On Friday, the object executes 8 times because it runs every 15-minutes from 20:00 to 23:45 and stops because Saturday is not included. The next executions starts on Monday at 22:00.
- If an execution takes longer than 15 minutes to run, then the next execution is skipped because Allow One Overlap is not checked.

Example: Setting combinations with consecutive runs with a buffer time

You want to execute an object so that it runs recurrently 100 times, but only during a few hours in the early morning, and not on bank holidays. The executions should start 30 minutes after the previous one ends.

Settings on the Period page

Assume that, at 00:45 (12:45 AM) on December 15th, you start a recurring execution with the following period object definition:
- Period
  - Start: Today (December 15)
  - End: After 100 runs
- Frequency
  - Execute > after the previous execution ends plus: 30 minutes
  - From 1:00 / To 2:59 (1:00 and 2:59 AM)
  - Initial Start Time: Not checked
- Days
  - Execute based on Calendar conditions that define all days except bank holidays.
Click to expand:
Resulting executions
- If the executions that use this period run consistently for 5 minutes, then the executions would start each day at:
  - 00:45 (12:45 AM)
  - 01:20 (00:45 (start) + 00:05 (run) + 00:30 (wait))
  - 01:55 (01:30 (start) + 00:05 (run) + 00:30 (wait))
  - 02:30 (01:55 (start) + 00:05 (run) + 00:30 (wait))
- On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, December 24 and 25, no executions will run.
- After a 100 executions have started, no more will be started. The period will have ended.