Using the trigger toolbar

This topic describes the tools in the trigger toolbar, as listed below. Hover the mouse over a tool to display the tool name. The tools that might not be self-explanatory are listed in this section.

Related topics

Defining-events-triggers-and-actions

What-are-events-and-how-to-define-them

What-are-triggers-and-how-to-define-them 

What-are-actions-and-how-to-define-them

AND

Both sides of the equation must evaluate to true for the event to trigger. 

OR

Only one side of the equation must evaluate to true for the event to trigger, but both sides must be false before the trigger trips a subsequent time. The trigger does not trip and cause the event to occur a second time if the second side of the equation becomes true if the first side is still true. If you need a second event to occur, you should consider setting up separate rules (or associating both objects with a template).

Delta

Delta is the change in a value. For instance, delta=3 triggers when the value you are monitoring changes by three. Do not use the delta operator with the Alert to Console action. Instead use the Log to File or some other action. The transaction does not clear, so the console alert remains in the Alert pane. Using the delta operator for a duration is not supported. 

Regular Expression

Use the regular expression node to define a pattern comparison to a string value used for triggering an event.  May only be connected to an Equal or Not Equal trigger node.

String

Use the regular expression node to define a text value used for triggering an event.  May only be connected to an Equal or Not Equal trigger node.

Numeric

Use the numeric node to define a threshold value for triggering an event. Use it when you need a number to use in calculations. If you do not define the threshold or number here, you must define it on the Rules tab. To indicate percentage, use decimal notation. For example, 0.8 represents 80%.

Topic

Use if the trigger needs only one property, for example ChannelStatus.

To determine the WebSphere MQ channel status, use the values shown in the following table:

 

Value

Status

0

Inactive

1

Binding

2

Starting

3

Running

4

Stopping

5

Retrying

6

Stopped

7

Requesting

8

Paused

13

Initializing

Typed topic 

Use when you want to use one or more specific topics such as a CurrentQDepth and MaxQDepth for a local queue.

You can create multiple links from an attribute of the typed topic node to any number of trigger nodes by clicking and dragging from the attribute to the trigger nodes.

You can use rules to create triggers that use multiple typed topics, whereas you can only use one typed topic in a template. For example, if you wanted to fire an action when two separate queues meet certain conditions (for instance, both CurrentQDepths are greater than zero), you can create a trigger and then use that trigger within a rule.

Transient topics in typed topics

The upper section of the typed topic properties dialog box allows you to select the type name for the object or topic being monitored.

transienttopics.png

 

Important

You can optionally click the Insert button to add additional rows to the type list. These additional types are transient. To select transient types, click the arrow in the field to display a drop-down menu, and select a type.

The lower section of the typed topic properties dialog box allows you to select the attributes of the type or object to monitor. Select the box on the left of each attribute you want to monitor. For example, you might select three queues in the top section, and then in the bottom section, select to display only the enqueue and dequeue rates. This allows you to monitor just the attributes you select across several queues without creating a new logical view.

For both objects and attributes, you can specify a filter to use when determining which object or attribute to view. A filter can be any Perl-compatible regular expression. (See the Perl documentation for a more complete description.) For instance, you could select only BTM types that contain transient topics, and then filter for only transient topics that start with a certain string.

Time interval

Use the time-based trigger when you want to have a particular trigger to be evaluated only during certain times of the day. Using the time-based trigger prevents you from receiving unnecessary notices or unnecessary actions from being taken. 

  • Time Start: defines the earliest time of the day at which a particular action should be taken. It uses a 24 hour clock. 00:00 (midnight) - 23:59.
  • Time End: defines the latest time of the day at which a particular action should be taken. It uses a 24 hour clock. 00:00 (midnight) - 23:59. 

The trigger is only evaluated if the trigger condition changes during the time frame defined on the event node. The action does not fire if the trigger condition became true before the defined time frame. 

End

Use to finish the trigger operation.

In addition, use the end node when you want to set a duration for which the trigger definition must be true before an action is taken. The Duration field accepts numeric values in seconds and there is no maximum limit. For example, if you typed 60 in the Duration field, the trigger definition evaluates to true only after the trigger definition is true for a continuous 60 seconds. If during the duration the trigger definition is false (even for one second), then the entire definition is false and the trigger is restarted. The Duration option is especially useful for topics that are close to a maximum or minimum and might sometimes cross the line, but do not stay across for a significant amount of time. Using the duration option prevents you from receiving unnecessary notices or unnecessary actions from being taken.

Duration

Duration applies to the clear as well as the set of the trigger. For this reason, retriggering continues until the duration is complete.

Retrigger

Select the Retrigger option if you want the event to retrigger on every update while the event is true. The event does not need to become false and then true again for the event to retrigger. This feature is designed for automated, application-driven action. If you want human interaction, use the remind option on the action's begin node.

Important

  • You cannot enable both the retrigger option on the trigger's end node and the remind option on the action's begin node. Only one can be defined for a rule (or template).
    A message appears indicating the rule is invalid if both are defined.
  • For end nodes used with a transient Typed Topic Input, you must select the retrigger option and the duration must be 0.
    If either of the above conditions are not fulfilled, a message is displayed during validation and you cannot save the workspace until you fix the end node definition.

Important

Updates to attributes are sent only for those that have a change in value from one sample interval to the next. An attribute can remain the same across several sample intervals.

For example, assume you have a trigger set to re-trigger for CurrentQDepth >= 10. As long as the CurrentQDepth value changes every sample interval (and is greater than or equal to 10), then event re-triggers each sample interval. However, if the queue depth does not change for 20 minutes (even though other attributes might change), no change is reported for CurrentQDepth. Therefore, no retriggering occurs. If, after 20 minutes the queue depth changes again (and the depth is still 10 or more) MainView Middleware Monitor re-triggers again.

 

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