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• The Cycle Instruction allows to repeat all jobs or a number of jobs and additional instructions in a workflow.
• The Cycle Instruction can be used
  • to spawn the complete workflow,
  • to spawn a number of instructions and jobs in a workflow,
  • in a sequential way by using a number of Cycle Instructions within the same workflow,
  • in a nested way by embedding Cycle Instructions within the same workflow.
• The Cycle Instruction offers some versatile options when to repeat execution and how often this should happen.
• Cyclic workflows are an alternative to use of Schedules for cyclic orders.

Cyclic Workflows vs. Cyclic Orders

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• of JS7 -

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• Execution
  • A Cycle Instruction spawning a complete workflow is an equivalent to a cyclic orders from a Schedule.
  • In addition, a Cycle Instruction can be used to execute parts of a workflow in cycles.
• Efficiency
• Schedules
create a number of order instances for each period in a cycle, Running a single workflow every 30s counts to 2880 orders per day.
• Cycle Instructions cause cyclic execution of a workflow from a single order.
• Processing of cyclic workflows is by far more efficient than use of cyclic orders.
• Error HandlingFailureIf a job in a workflow fails then this will occur for each order instance of a cyclic order individually.
• If a job within a Cycle Instruction fails then depending on the error handling in place any cycles that would occur while an order is in a failed state are skipped..
• Notification
  • For each failing order instance of a cyclic order a JS7 - Notification is created.
  • For the single order of a cyclic workflow a single Notification is created.
 InterventionAny operations on cyclic orders are applied to all order instances included, for example to resume execution after failure. This results in parallel execution of orders previously scheduled for execution in intervals.
• For cyclic workflows there is a single order that waits for user intervention.
LoggingFor each order instance of a cyclic order a separate entry is created in the JS7 - Order History and in the JS7 - Task History.
• For a cyclic workflow there is a single entry in the Order History that is appended the log output of each cycle. Individual entries per job execution are added to the Task History.

Elements of the Cycle Instruction

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• for which the clock is forwarded by one hour then the cycle will start immediately. Assuming the clock to be forwarded from 2am to 3am then the cycle starts at 2am with the order history indicating 3am as the start time. The duration of the cycle's period is unaffected by daylight saving changes. For example if the duration is specified to be 3 hours then on a day for which the clock at 2am is forwarded to 3am the cycle is executed until 6am.
• for which the clock is set back by one hour then the cycle will start according to its repeat interval. Assume the clock to be set back from 3am to 2am then the cycle starts at 2am with the order history indicating 2am as the start time. The duration of the cycle's period is unaffected by daylight saving changes. For example if the duration is specified to be 3 hours then on a day for which the clock at 3am is set back to 2am the cycle is executed until 4am.

Cyclic Workflows vs. Cyclic Orders

Consider that the Cycle Instruction allows to create cyclic workflows as an alternative to use of JS7 - Schedules for cyclic orders.

• Execution
  • A Cycle Instruction spawning a complete workflow is an equivalent to a cyclic orders from a Schedule.
  • In addition, a Cycle Instruction can be used to execute parts of a workflow in cycles.
• Efficiency
• Schedules create a number of order instances for each period in a cycle, Running a single workflow every 30s counts to 2880 orders per day.
• Cycle Instructions cause cyclic execution of a workflow from a single order.
• Processing of cyclic workflows is by far more efficient than use of cyclic orders.
• Error Handling
  • Failure
    • If a job in a workflow fails then this will occur for each order instance of a cyclic order individually.
    • If a job within a Cycle Instruction fails then depending on the error handling in place any cycles that would occur while an order is in a failed state are skipped..
  • Notification
    • For each failing order instance of a cyclic order a JS7 - Notification is created.
    • For the single order of a cyclic workflow a single Notification is created.
  •  Intervention
    • Any operations on cyclic orders are applied to all order instances included, for example to resume execution after failure. This results in parallel execution of orders previously scheduled for execution in intervals.
    • For cyclic workflows there is a single order that waits for user intervention.
• Logging
  • For each order instance of a cyclic order a separate entry is created in the JS7 - Order History and in the JS7 - Task History.
  • For a cyclic workflow there is a single entry in the Order History that is appended the log output of each cycle. Individual entries per job execution are added to the Task History.