Scheduling within Orchestrator uses the Quartz.Net framework. This framework provides for the use of cron expressions as the schedule trigger.
Cron is a software utility, present in Unix-like operating systems, used for time-based scheduling. It provides for highly customizable scheduling of recurring tasks using a string of 6 (or 7, when including year) fields separated by white space. The format of the string is seconds
minutes
hours
day of the month
month
day of the week
year
.
In Orchestrator, cron expressions are used when creating a Time Trigger using the Advanced scheduling option:


Each field in a cron expression has a specified range of values and special characters that may be used in creating the schedule, as detailed below:
Field | Mandatory | Allowed Values | Allowed Special Characters |
---|---|---|---|
| Yes |
|
|
| Yes |
|
|
| Yes |
|
|
| Yes |
|
|
| Yes |
|
|
| Yes |
|
|
| No | blank or |
|
The meanings and usage of the available special characters are as follows:
Character | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
| Used to indicate all values for the given field. |
|
| Used to indicate that no value is specified. May be used only in the |
|
| Used to indicate a range of values. |
|
| Used to indicate additional values. |
|
| Used to indicate increments of the given field(s). |
|
| Used to indicate Last. May be used only in the |
|
| Used to indicate the nearest weekday to the given value. May only be used with the |
|
| Used to indicate a desired monthly occurrence of the given value, for example the first Friday, or fourth Thursday. May only be used with the |
|
Updated about a year ago