Overview of schedule functionality

Schedule functionality allows you to create structured sets of schedules, populate date into them and then use the schedule to drive Case and Action due dates and Case launch dates when configuring Cases in Builder. This is often used for supporting scenarios e.g. Payroll .

The order of events to use Enate's schedule functionality is as follows:

1. Create a Schedule Structure in Builder consisting of a number of key dates, e.g. 'Submission Deadline Date', 'Initial report Date', 'Credit Date' etc.

2. Create multiple individual Schedules of dates against one of these structures.

3. Link one or more Case processes to that schedule and then make reference to it when configuring your Case process.

There are two main areas of functionality within Enate which relate to managing work which happens based upon dates schedules. These are:

1. Schedule functionality: This allows you to create structured sets of schedules, populate date into them, then use the schedule to drive Case and Action due dates and Case launch dates when configuring Cases in Builder. This is often used for supporting scenarios e.g. Payroll. Work with 'Schedules' and 'Schedule Structures' to use this feature.

2. Frequency-based repeating 'triggers' for Case launching: This allows you to create a repeating frequency upon which you can launch Cases in a given process, e.g. “Every Monday at 9am launch a Case in the AP Verification process”. This functionality is different to the Scheduling features described above; it does not use explicit dates.

You can access both of these features via the Schedules link on the toolbar

This will open up the Schedules screen with the three main sections to access.

Click here for more information about schedules:

Find out more information about triggers here:

One you have created a schedule structure, you then need to create a schedule of dates to use alongside your schedule structure.

To find out how to create a schedule, you can watch the following video or read the steps below.

To create a schedule, go to the ‘Schedules’ page in Builder. Here you can see any previously created schedules and create new ones.

To create a new schedule, click on the ‘Add Schedule’ link. This will bring up a popup where you select the schedule structure you want your new schedule to use.

After selecting your desired schedule structure, you can then define the name and description of your new schedule.

You can then add as many sets of dates for as many periods as you desire to it by adding a row and defining the dates for the periods as desired.

You can always edit the schedule and add more dates to it later on.

Once you have entered dates as desired, you should specify the Status of schedule (you can have it Paused, so it won’t take effect on anything yet, or Resumed, which means the schedule will be in effect and will start a Case for any Case processes it is linked to.

When editing a schedule, you are able to see the activity history of the schedule by clicking on the Show Activity button. You can see when the schedule was created and by who and you can see if any subsequent edits have been made, when they were made and by who.

You can now link one or more Case processes to that schedule.

Importing Schedule data from an excel file

In addition to adding new rows manually, you can also upload data for multiple periods using an excel sheet.

To do this, select the 'Import from file' option to bring up the ‘Schedule period bulk upload’ popup.

Add an .xls or xlsx file with your data, click upload and the data will be added.

Once you've uploaded your file, new rows will be added to your screen containing the dates from your excel. If you’re happy with the uploaded dates, hit save to finish the upload process.

File Formatting Criteria

With regards to file formatting, the excel file needs to contain the all of the columns present in the schedule structure - i.e. a header row which matches the grid headings in the Schedule screen. This needs to include: period, year, start date plus all the custom-made schedule date titles you defined in your schedule structure.

Exporting Schedule data in an excel file

You can export schedule data in an excel file via the export button.

Subsequently Changing the Schedule Status – Impact on Auto-Launching of Cases

• Once a schedule has been created, you can subsequently go in and modify the data, including setting the status to paused / resumed.

• If you resume a schedule after a long period of pause, the system will play catch-up, i.e. it will launch a Case Work Item even for previous date periods - if no Case Work Item has yet been launched (the system tags Case Work Items in the background so it is aware of whether or not a Case has been launched for it).

Viewing Expired/Expiring Schedules

You can easily view which schedules have already expired or are expiring soon and need you to upload more data on to keep their related processes running.

When you first go to the schedules screen, you'll see the number of schedules that have already expired at the top.

You can also use the filter function to see schedules that have already expired or are about to expire in certain time frames.

The options are:

• Already expired

• Expired/Expiring within next 7 days

• Expired/Expiring within next 30 days

• Expired/Expiring within next 90 days

• Select Date - here you can choose a custom date.

The first step to using schedule functionality is to create a schedule structure. A schedule structure is a framework of key date types which will ultimately be populated with dates for each time period when creating a schedule that references this structure.

To find out how to create a schedule structure, you can watch the following video or read the steps below.

To create a schedule structure, go to the ‘Schedule Structure’ page in the Schedules section of Builder:

Here you can view and edit all previously created schedule structures and add new ones.

To add a schedule structure, click on the '+' link. You can then define the schedule structure's name, give it a description, and define the dates which will be used (i.e. the structure of key dates throughout that period). Dates can be edited, reordered and deleted as desired.

When editing a schedule structure, you are able to see the activity history of the schedule structure by clicking on the Show Activity button. You can see when the schedule structure was created and by who and you can see if any subsequent edits have been made, when they were made and by who.

Once you have , you can start to make use of the schedule information when configuring a Case process. To do this, you can:

Check out this explainer video for how to link schedules to Case processes in Builder or read the information below.

Linking Schedules to Case Processes in Builder

To link a schedule to a Case process, open the Case screen in Edit mode and select the desired schedule from the ‘Schedule’ dropdown in the Case Info Screen.

If you want the Cases to be automatically startable based on this schedule, set the 'Auto Start By Schedule' option to on.

Linking Schedule Structure Dates to Steps

The next activity available is to link the steps of the Case to the schedule so they reference one of the dates in the schedule. To do this, click the schedule icon in the steps running along the top of the Case flow diagram and select the date you want to like the step to.

Setting a Due Date which References a Schedule Date

There are two options when it comes to creating due date rules that reference a schedule date:

Referencing a Schedule Date

As with any other due date rule, you can define a +/- offset of days (and hours) from the date referenced in order to reach the precise due date/time desired for the Action.

Referencing a Step Date

Viewing Cases Linked to a Schedule

The 'Show Case Process Linked to Schedule' icon in the Schedules page lets you see the list of all the Case processes which are linked to a schedule.

It shows you the Customer, Contract and Service of the Case, as well as what state the Case is in, such as Live, Testing and Draft. If the schedule is linked with more than one version of a Case, then all versions will be shown in the list. You are also able to filter the list of Cases by Customer, Contract, Service and State.

Clicking on the Case process will take you to the Case screen for that particular Case.

To edit an existing trigger, go to the 'Schedules' section from the toolbar link in Builder:

Then select the 'Triggers' option from the drop-down to access the Triggers page.

Here you can see a list of all of your existing triggers.

You can create, edit, pause, start or delete triggers from this here. You will also be able to see the name of the trigger, the work items it is being used for, how often the trigger runs, the time zone the trigger is set to run in, when the trigger was first run, last run and when it is due to run next according to the time zone selected.

You are able to change the time zone set for a trigger, but note that this will not have an effect until after the currently calculated next run-date. After the next run-date, the run-time of the trigger will change to show in the time of the chosen time zone

Additionally, if the trigger is set to run through daylight saving time, the time shown will now take into account daylight saving time.

Overview of Triggers

This feature allows you to drive Case creation based on a repeating frequency to trigger automatic creation (different to driving Case creation off a specific date from a Schedule loaded into the system. Watch the video below to find out more about Triggers:

This is done by creating one or more Triggers in Builder against a given Case or against multiple given Cases.

See here for information about how to create a trigger.

Watch this video to find out how to create a brand new trigger or read the steps below.

To create a brand new trigger, go to the 'Schedules' section from the toolbar link in Builder:

Then select the 'Triggers' option from the drop-down to access the Triggers page.

From here click on the '+' link which will bring up the 'Create Trigger' pop-up.

Here you need to add the following information:

• Name of the trigger.

• A start date & time for when it should first run.

• The Case instance or multiple Case instances it should start (note: more than one trigger schedule can be created for a Case, so you can schedule to have it run e.g. weekly but also on last day of the month).

• The Frequency. A number of options are available to meet business needs as desire:

  • Hourly

  • Daily

  • Weekly

  • Monthly

  • On Specific Days of the Month, e.g. 1st day, 21st day, last day.

Once created, the Triggers can be set running and a new case will launch on the next trigger date/time.

When editing a Trigger, you are also able to see its activity history by clicking on the Show Activity button. You can see when the Trigger was created and by who, as well as if any edits have been made to the Trigger, when they were made and by who.

This section describes how the system behaves when it comes to auto-creation of Case work items based upon schedule dates that have been uploaded into Builder. Specifically, it explains when the system does - and does not - create new Case work items retrospectively for schedule rows where the Start Date is in the past (which can occur is e.g. a Schedule with dates is paused and then resumed at a later point, or if historic dates are loaded into the sytem.

The logic which underpins this is explained, and a number of specific scenarios are described to help highlight how this determines system behaviour.

Schedules vs Auto-launching Cases - Logic

The underlying logic which determines when the system does and does not launch a Case work item based on a schedule centres on the date that a Case process version is set live when it is linked to a schedule and is set to auto-start work items. The rules are as follows:

• If a Case version has the 'Autostart by Schedule' set to OFF will never automatically start any Case work items when it gets set live.

• When a Case version has 'Autostart by Schedule' set to ON and is linked to a Schedule, the system will kick off a Case for any unlaunched rows which have a Start Date AFTER the date that Case process version was set live*. The schedule must be in a state of running for the cases to be created.

• In that scenario, if the schedule gets paused then when it is set to resume it WILL retrospectively create Cases for any schedule rows with a Start Date AFTER that key Case process version set live date.

• Anything with a Start Date BEFORE that key data will never auto-launch a Case.

• Future-dated rows will also obviously kick off a new Case work item when their start date is reached.

*This logic for launching a Case for historic schedule rows is true no matter when that schedule row is added - i.e. if it existed at the point where the Case process version was set live, or even if it is subsequently added to the Schedule after that point.

The following infographic explains how the system determines whether or not to auto-launch a Case based on linked schedule row dates.

Schedule Scenarios and System Behaviour

Cases and their Actions which have been launched through a trigger will display the frequency name in their title in Work Manager, based on the following format:

[Work Item Reference Number] - [Name Of the Schedule] [Date Month Year Time]

Ex : 218649-C - Payroll Process 14 February 2020 15:07