# Workflow

## Watchdog Configuration

| Prior to any configuration make sure the user EDBKERNEL has been created and is activated for the Workflow module because internal processes use the user EDBKERNEL as a reference user!
| The polling for the Watchdog can be organized for specific points of day or a time period. If, e.g., you wish to start the Watchdog action every day at exactly 8:00 am, 12:00 am and 06:00 pm, you would use the specific polling. If you want to have action at an interval of every 20 minutes, you would use the periodic polling.
| The polling of the watchdog to send e-mails can be configured.
| ### File ABS<environment name>.ini
| Configure settings of the watchdog in the ABS<environment name>.ini file.
| Timing
| Define times the watchdog checks whether activities are due or overdue in the [Watchdog\Timing] section. You can either insert specific times (Time0-n, e.g. 8:00 am) or insert a time period (Period, e.g. 20 min). For background activities (batch) you can even set a separate period (BatchPeriod, e.g. 2 min).
| If the entries "PeriodBase" and "Period" exist in the ABS<environment name>.ini file, the specific polling is ignored. To activate specific polling, the entries "PeriodBase" and "Period" have to be removed from the ABS<environment name>.ini file!
| Specific polling defines an exact start point for the Watchdog action whereas the periodic polling defines a relative period of inactivity. This means that the period of inactivity starts at the end of the previous active period. So the starting point of the Watchdog is moving slightly forward, depending on the time the Watchdog is active.
| Time0=<hh:mm>: first time, the watchdog checks for due and overdue activities. Time1=<hh:mm>: second time. Time2=<hh:mm>: third time. ...
| Please note that it is possible to define any number of specific points of day!
| PeriodBase=<hh:mm>: Base time for calculative reasons. Period=<hh:mm>: time period of regular intervals of due and overdue activities. BatchPeriod=<hh:mm>: time period of regular intervals for background activities (batch).
| When using the watchdog in productive environments, set the time periods to at least 15 to 20 minutes or higher (e.g. Period=00:15). Lower access intervals for the watchdog will lead to performance losses!
| Startup Time
| To run background processes on the server, the client tries to start the server. This status Try to start server for background execution is shown in the Process- and Activity History. Define in the section [Watchdog] MaxBatchStartupTime the time, when the responsible user for the process gets an e-mail that this status remains.
| The default value for MaxBatchStartupTime is set to 30 minutes. Lower values will lead to performance losses!
| The time of the DATAVIEW_TOUT, you define in the client settings, must be shorter than the Startup Time of the Watchdog!
| Number of Background Processes
| For the execution of background processes licenses are needed. As the number of licenses is limited, the number of simultaneously running processes can be defined. In the section [Watchdog] BatchCallNumber= enter the permitted number. The value must not be < 1. A value < 1 is rounded up to 1.