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3.9. Timers

Use timers to set a time delay for a trigger. You can use them to specify supervision periods, to trigger certain logic after a certain period, or to repeat some action at regular intervals.
You must configure a timer node so that it has both a delay and a period. The delay specifies the how long (in milliseconds) to wait after node activation before triggering the timer for the first time. The period defines the duration of time between subsequent trigger activations. If you set the period to 0, the timer will only run once.
The timer service is responsible for making sure that timers are triggered at the correct moment. You can also cancel timers. This means that they will no longer be triggered.
You can use timers in these ways:
  • you can add a Timer node to the rule flow. When the node is activated, it starts the timer, and its triggers (once or repeatedly) activate the Timer node's successor. This means that the timer's outgoing connection is triggered multiple times if you set the period. Cancelling a Timer node also cancels the associated timer, after which nothing will be triggered anymore.
  • you can associate timers with event-based nodes like WorkItem, SubFlow and so forth. A timer associated with a node is activated whenever the node becomes active. The associated action is executed whenever the timer triggers. You may use this, for instance, to send out regular notifications to alert that the execution of tasks is taking too long to perform, or to signal a fault if a supervision period expires.
    When the node owning the timer completes, the timer is automatically cancelled.
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