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  3. Running and Managing Triggers

Managing Triggers

Automation Manager is the management part of NiceLabel Automation software. When using Automation Builder for configuring the triggers, you are using Automation Manager to deploy and run the triggers in production environment. The application allows you to load triggers from different configurations, see their live status, start/stop them, and see execution details in log file.

You can customize the view on the loaded configurations and their triggers. The last view is remembered and applied when you run Automation Manager for the next time. If you enable view By status, triggers from all open configurations that share the same status are displayed together. If you enable view by Configurations, triggers from the selected configuration are displayed together, no matter what their status is. Trigger status is color-coded in the trigger icon for easier identification.

The displayed trigger details change in real time – as soon as the trigger events are detected. You can see the information items, such as trigger name, type of trigger, how many events have already been processed, how many errors were detected, and the time that passed since the last event. If you hover your mouse above the number of already processed triggers, you see the number of trigger events waiting to be processed.

Note

The loaded configuration is cached in memory. If you make a change to the configuration in Automation Builder, the Automation Manager does not automatically apply it. To apply the change, reload the configuration.

Loading configuration

To load a configuration, click the +Add button and browse for the configuration file (.MISX). Triggers from the configuration load in suspended state. You have to start triggers to make them active. For more information, see section Deploying Configuration.

The list of loaded configurations and statuses for each trigger is remembered. If the server is restarted for whatever reason, NiceLabel Automation Service restores the trigger state from before the restart.

Configuration reloading and removal

After you update and save the configuration in Automation Builder, the changes are not automatically applied in Automation Manager. To reload the configuration, right-click the configuration name, and click Reload Configuration. This reloads all triggers. If you have file caching enabled, the reload forces synchronization off all files that are used by the triggers.

Starting / stopping triggers

If you load triggers from a configuration, their default state is stopped. To start the trigger, click the Start button in the trigger area. To stop the trigger, click Stop. You can select more triggers from the same configuration and start / stop all of them simultaneously.

You can also control starting/stopping of a configuration using command-line. For more information, see section Controlling the Service with Command-line Parameters.

Handling trigger conflicts

Triggers can be in error state due to below listed situations. You cannot start triggers in error until you resolve the issue.

  • Trigger not configured correctly or completely: In this case, the trigger is not configured, mandatory properties are not defined, or actions defined for this printer are not configured. You cannot start such trigger.

  • Trigger configuration overlaps with another trigger: Two triggers cannot monitor the same event.

Example 89. Example

Two file triggers cannot monitor the same file. Two HTTP triggers cannot accept data on the same port. If the trigger configuration overlaps with another trigger, the second trigger cannot run because the event is already captured by the first trigger. For more information, see Log pane for that trigger.


Resetting the error status

When the trigger execution causes an error, the trigger icon color changes to red, trigger receives error status, and event details are logged to the logging database. Even if all of the upcoming events complete successfully, the trigger remains in error state until you confirm that you understand the error and that you want to clear the status. To acknowledge the error, click the icon next to the error counter under trigger details.

Using notification pane

Notification pane is the area above the list of triggers in the Triggers tab where important messages are displayed. Notification area displays application status messages, such as "Trial mode" or "Trial mode expired", or warning messages, such as "Tracing has been enabled".

Viewing Logged data

Every trigger activity is logged in the database, including trigger start/stop events, successful execution of action and errors encountered during processing. Click the Log button to see logged events just for the selected trigger. For more information, see section Using Event Log.