Wait for a duration flow logic
Summarize
Summary of Wait for a Duration Flow Logic
The Wait for a Duration flow logic enables users to incorporate pauses in automated processes. This feature allows for specific actions to be delayed until a designated time period elapses or until a predefined date and time is reached. This is particularly useful for managing tasks that require user action or adherence to SLAs.
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Key Features
- Input Types: You can configure wait durations as Explicit, Relative, or Percentage durations, enabling flexible timing options based on specific needs.
- Wait for: Set a manual value or select from existing Duration data pills, allowing integration with other workflow elements.
- Schedule: Option to apply a business schedule to the wait duration, affecting the timing of actions based on operational hours.
- Outputs: Capture the total time the flow ran and the completion date/time, which can be referenced in subsequent steps.
Key Outcomes
By implementing this flow logic, customers can automate notifications, manage incident resolution timelines, and ensure compliance with business schedules. For example, you can automate the closure of incidents after a specific duration or send notifications at defined intervals, thereby enhancing efficiency and accountability in workflows.
Use this flow logic to give your users time to act during automated processes or to wait for a specific date and time to complete actions.
Inputs
| Input | Description |
|---|---|
| Duration Type |
|
| Wait for | Set this value manually or select a Duration data pill from the data pill picker
(
Note: The actual wait duration can vary
due to the instance processing time. The flow always waits for the time that you specify
for this field, but other work in the queue may add to the wait time. |
| Wait for Percentage | Wait duration as a percentage of the time period between the start of flow logic and specified end time. If you select a past date for the end time, the wait duration is set to 0. This field appears when Percentage Duration is selected from the Duration Type list. |
| During the following schedule | Select the schedule used to calculate the Scheduled End date/time value from the selected wait duration. For example, waiting for a 10-hour duration as part of an 8-5 weekdays schedule causes the flow to wait for one or more business days. If you leave this field blank, the timer runs without a schedule. For information on creating schedules, see Define a schedule. |
Outputs
| Output | Description |
|---|---|
| Duration | Total time that the flow ran in milliseconds. You can drag this data pill into the duration fields. |
| Date/time | Date/time that the flow completed. You can drag this data pill into the date/time fields. |
Close an incident if it has been in the resolved state for 10 days
In this example, a flow starts when the incident state changes to Resolved.
Wait 10 days after the last update to a record
In this example, the flows waits for 10 days after the incident record has been resolved.
Update a record after 10 days
In this example, the flows closes the incident record 10 days after it was resolved.
Wait for a duration of 50% of the time between the start of the flow logic and the due date
In this example, the flows send a notification email to the relevant manager when a critical problem is created and 50% of the time between the problem record creation and the problem due date has lapsed.
Relative Duration type
When the duration type is Relative Duration, the flow logic first evaluates the relative date and time, the schedule, and finally, the duration. Schedules, dates, and times set in the past don't affect the wait duration. This table provides examples of how the flow processes the wait duration in these scenarios.
| Duration Setting | Relative Date/Time | Schedule | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set to 0. | None | None | Duration ends immediately. |
| Greater than 0. | Past date | None | Duration ends immediately. |
| Greater than 0. | Future date | None | Flow waits for the date/time, and then waits for the duration. |
| Greater than 0. | Past date | Future date | Flow waits for schedule, and then waits for the duration. |
| Greater than 0. | Future date | Past date | Flow waits for the date/time, and then waits for the duration. |
| Greater than 0. | Future date | Future date | Flow waits for the future date, then for the schedule, and then for the duration. |
The timer waits for the next instance of a selected schedule. For example, if you set a schedule for Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the timer is initiated on Saturday, the timer waits until Monday at 8 a.m. before starting.
Execution details
- The header shows the state, start time, and runtime for the flow logic. Note:The runtime value in the header only includes the time that it takes to execute the flow logic and doesn't include the wait duration that is specified in the flow.
- The Configuration Details section shows details about the variables that are used by the flow, including the type, configuration, and runtime values for each variable.