About Calendars
Process Manager uses calendars to define the dates in a time event, which is used to determine when a flow triggers or a job runs. Calendars are defined independently of flows and jobs so that they can be associated with multiple time events.
A time event consists of the date and time to trigger the event, and the duration in which the event is valid (in time or number of occurrences). The calendar provides the date specification for the time event.
Process Manager has two types of calendars:
User calendars
System calendars
You create both types of calendars using the Calendar Editor.
Users can only manipulate their own calendars, but they can use system calendars and calendars belonging to other users when combining calendars.
About user calendars
User calendars are created by individual users. Users create a new calendar when they have a requirement for a unique time event, and no calendar in the current list of calendars resolves to the correct date or set of dates. Users can create simple calendars, or calendars that combine multiple calendars, both user and system, to create complex schedule criteria.
These calendars are owned by the user who created them and can be used by any user. Only the owner can modify or delete these calendars.
About system calendars
System calendars are built-in or created by a Process Manager administrator. These calendars are owned by the virtual user Sys and can be used by any user.
Process Manager comes with a set of pre-defined system calendars that you can use as is to suit the needs of your site. In addition to these built-in calendars, the Process Manager administrator may define other system calendars.
About changing or deleting calendars
Once created, calendars can be changed or deleted. However, if you change or delete a calendar when it is in use (that is, when a flow definition is triggered by an event that uses the calendar, when a flow is running and contains a time event that uses that calendar, or when the calendar is referenced by another calendar), your changes will only take effect on any new instances; current instances will continue to use the previous calendar definition.
Time zones
It is possible for users to run their Process Manager Clients from a different geographic time zone than the Process Manager Server. Therefore it is important to note that, by default, all time events specified in a flow definition are based on the time zone set in JS_TIME_ZONE. For example, Joe is in Los Angeles and is connected to a Process Manager server in New York. He has set JS_TIME_ZONE=server. When Joe defines a flow to trigger at 5 p.m, it triggers at 5 p.m. New York time, not Los Angeles time.
If you change the time zone, you must restart Process Manager.
You can also change the time zone of a specific time event when you create that time event.
All start times displayed for a work item in Flow Manager are in GMT (Universal Time).
Note that the time used with the calendars is based on the time zone set in JS_TIME_ZONE. The time zone can be set as server, client (default), or Universal Time (UTC also known as GMT).
Built-in system calendars
Types of Calendars |
Calendar Names |
|---|---|
Weekly calendars |
Mondays@Sys Tuesdays@Sys Wednesdays@Sys Thursdays@Sys Fridays@Sys Saturdays@Sys Sundays@Sys Daily@Sys Weekdays@Sys Weekends@Sys Businessdays@Sys |
Monthly calendars |
First_monday_of_month@Sys First_tuesday_of_month@Sys First_wednesday_of_month@Sys First_thursday_of_month@Sys First_friday_of_month@Sys First_saturday_of_month@Sys First_sunday_of_month@Sys First_weekday_of_month@Sys Last_weekday_of_month@Sys First_businessday_of_month@Sys Last_businessday_of_month@Sys Biweekly_pay_days@Sys |
Yearly calendars |
Holidays@Sys First_day_of_year@Sys Last_day_of_year@Sys First_businessday_of_year@Sys Last_businessday_of_year@Sys First_weekday_of_year@Sys Last_weekday_of_year@Sys |
The Holidays@Sys calendar
When you receive Process Manager, it comes with some predefined system calendars. Most of these calendars are ready to be used. The calendar Holidays@Sys can be a particularly important calendar for use in creating schedules, but it should be edited to reflect your company holidays, before users begin creating schedules. It should also be updated annually, to reflect the current year’s statutory holidays, company-specific holidays, and so on.
Some of the other built-in calendars rely on the accuracy of Holidays@Sys, including any calendar that defines business days, since a business day is a weekday that is not a holiday.
The Biweekly_pay_days@Sys calendar
The Biweekly_pay_days@Sys calendar assumes a Friday pay day. If biweekly pay days are a different day of the week, edit this calendar to specify the correct day of the week for pay days.