Defining a one-time segment

  1. Open the Business Time Segment form in new mode.
    Business Time Segment form, One Time tab
    BusinessTimeSegment.png 
  2. In the ID field, enter a unique identifier. Use this identifier to reference the time segment in workflow.
    The identifier can be non-unique in special cases. For more information, see Migrating-Workdays-and-Holidays-to-the-Business-Time-Segment-form.
  3. In the Description field, enter a description for the time segment.
  4. In the Availability field, select Available or Unavailable.
  5. For the Enable option, select Yes to enable the time segment.
    Do not select Yes if you want to temporarily disable the time segment.
  6. In the Level field, select a level.
    Business Schedule Activities have a default level of 3, but you can change this level to any number from 1 through 1000.
    If the schedules for two activities or business hours and holidays conflict, the event with the highest number takes priority.
    See Scheduling-a-time-segment for more information about levels.
  7. In the Category field, enter a description for the category.
    This field helps determine what type of schedule time segment the item is (for example, blackout, maintenance, and so on.) Although it is not a required field, it can help you categorize your time segments.
  8. From the Timezone list, select a time zone.
    See Using-time-zones for more information.
    The Offset field remains on the form for backward compatibility purposes. For new business time segments, use the Timezone field.
  9. In the Action field, select one of the following options:
    • Create as Described—Creates the scheduled time segment without checking to determine whether the Start Date and Time and the End Date and Time conflict with that of another scheduled time segment. This option creates a time segment with a status of Published. It applies to both One Time and Recurring duration types.

    • Create Next Free—Finds the next free date and time and automatically creates the scheduled time segment, making sure that no conflicting time slot exists. If the specified Start Date and Start Time, and End Date and End Time are not available, the time segment is scheduled for the next available time slot. This option creates a time segment with a status of Published. It applies only to the One Time duration type.

      To find conflicting items for the Create Next Free and Find Next Free options, add items to the Non-Conflicting Activities field. If you do not, the time segment you originally entered is used. See step 15 for more information.

    • Find Next Free—Finds the next free time slot based on the Start Date and Start Time and the End Date and End Time, and puts the value into the Next Free Date/Time field. This option creates a time segment with a status of Draft. It applies only to the One Time duration type.
    • Publish—Changes the status from Draft to Published so the time segment can be used by business time application commands.
    • Remove—Mark the scheduled time segment to be deleted in an escalation that runs nightly.
    • Draft—Changes the status from Published to Draft so changes can be made to the time segment. (You cannot change a record after it is published. First, move it to Draft and save it. Then, make your changes.)
      When you select an Action, the status of Draft, Published, or Remove appears in the read-only Status field. A status of Draft indicates that the time segment can be modified, but not used by business time application commands until the status changes to Published.
  10. In the Duration Type field, select One time to create a single occurrence of the time segment.
    To create a recurring business time segment, see Defining-a-recurring-time-segment.
  11. Enter the Start Date, Start Time, End Date, and End Time for the duration of the time segment.
    If your day ends at midnight, select the End of Day check box. Then, any value in the End Time field is ignored, and the day ends at midnight.
  12. In the Earliest Start Time field, enter the earliest preferred start time for which to schedule the time segment.
    The search for a start time starts with the Start Date and Start Time and find the first available time with the specified duration. If no time slot is found within the same day, it continues to the next day, starting after the Earliest Start Time. If this field is blank, the search for the next available time continues from 12:00 A.M. of the next day if necessary.
  13. In the Latest End Time field, enter latest preferred time by which the time segment should end.
  14. In the End Date Search Range field, enter the last date to search for an available time slot within the specified Start Date and End Date. (The default is the End Date plus six months.)
    The Start Date Search Range field is set to the Start Date and Start Time.
  15. In the Non Conflicting Activities field, enter the IDs of the Business Time Segment, Business Times Workdays, and Business Time Holidays definitions to check for schedule conflicts.
  16. If you selected Find Next Free as the Action in the top portion of the form, click in the Next Free Date/Time field and press Enter to find the next available time slot.
    The next free period for the time segment appears in the Next Free Date/Time field. If the value is the same as the Start Date and Start Time, that time is available. If the time is different, the original time that was specified for the Start Date/Time was not available and the value represents the earliest available time.
  17. Save the form.
  18. View the time segment.
  19. If this time slot is not acceptable:
    1. Select the Find Next Free option.
    2. Search for the next free time slot.
    3. Save the form.

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*