Bot - Hourly Scheduled

[alhazen]

Hi guys,

I would like to create a scheduled bot that sends alerts every 4 hours throughout the day. I noticed there is an hourly schedule rule available, which seems to be a new feature. However, I'm a bit unclear about the "minute of the hour" field and its functionality. I appreciate any further information you can provide on this topic. Thank you for your assistance and insights.

 

[WillowMobileSys]

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@alhazen wrote:

However, I'm a bit unclear about the "minute of the hour" field and its functionality

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It allows you to set the specific time within the hour to run your Bot.

Many app creators will schedule their Bots at the top of the hour, e.g. 12:00am, 1:00am 2:00am, etc.

The issue is that a lot of automated processes get stacked up to run at this same time, the servers get congested and the processes are delayed as they get queued up to run.

Setting your bot to run every hour, say at 35 minutes past the hour, e.g. 12:35am, 1:35am, 2:35am, will make it a lot less likely you will run into this congestion and if it does, it will be delayed for a lot less time.

[alhazen]

Hi, @WillowMobileSys thank you for the suggestions.

Does this mean that it cannot be scheduled to run every 4 hours? So, do I still need to use the daily schedule and set it for specific times, such as 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, and 20:00?

[Rifad]

https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/AppSheet-Q-A/Can-someone-describe-a-situation-where-you-woul... Please have a look at this and I have my own comment above this. I hope this method will help you do it.

[WillowMobileSys · Accepted solution]

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@alhazen wrote:

Does this mean that it cannot be scheduled to run every 4 hours?

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Yes you can.  I would schedule the Bot Hourly with minute set at let's say 23 - a very unusual time to minimize contention with others.  This is just when the Bot triggers.  You can further  constrain the running of the Bot with Time conditions.  Something like:

OR(
   AND("08:00" <= TIMENOW(), TIMENOW() <= "09:00"),
   AND("12:00" <= TIMENOW(), TIMENOW() <= "13:00"),
   AND("16:00" <= TIMENOW(), TIMENOW() <= "17:00"),
   AND("20:00" <= TIMENOW(), TIMENOW() <= "21:00")
)

NOTE: Though you set the trigger minute to  23 minutes past the hour, the Bot may not actually trigger at that time due to other processes running.  But we know it will run sometime within a few minutes of the set time AND we know it will run only once in that hour.  So by checking if the time is within certain hour windows will accomplish the task of allowing the Bot to continue only every 4 hours - approximately.

I hope this helps!

[alhazen]

I really appreciate your help. It made a big difference. thank you

[1minManager]

Another alternative, if your not concerned as to which hour it runs, just that it does so 4 times a day try:

MOD(HOUR(TIMENOW()-"00:00:00")/6)=0

Which basically says if the current hour is zero or divisable by 6 then run the bot.  So it will run on hours 00xx, 06xx, 12xx, 18xx.  Also checkout this as it might also help

https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Tips-Tricks/Limit-a-bot-set-to-run-hourly-to-specific-hours-...

Simon, 1minManager.com

[alhazen]

Thank you for your suggestion