Creating an Action Set for an Alert
Once you create your alert actions, you must include them in an enabled action set for Oracle Alert to perform during an alert check. An action set can include an unlimited number of actions and any combination of actions and action groups (such as escalation or threshold groups). You can define as many action sets as you want for each alert. Oracle Alert executes the alert Select statement once for each action set you define. During each action set check, Oracle Alert executes each action set member in the sequence you specify.
To create an action set for an alert:
1. Display the alert that you want to create an action set for in the Alerts form.
3. In the Action Sets window that appears, enter a sequence number in the Seq field and name your action set (up to 30 characters). See: Oracle Alert Naming Conventions.
The sequence number lets you order the execution of action sets during an alert check. The sequence number automatically defaults to the next available number. You can accept or change the default.
4. Give the action set a meaningful description (up to 240 characters).
5. Check Suppress Duplicates if you want Oracle Alert to suppress the actions in this action set if the exception found is a duplicate that occurred during the last alert check. Note that you first have to save history to use this function.
If you check Suppress Duplicates and the action set includes a summary message action, Oracle Alert marks with an asterisk (*) any duplicate exceptions included in the summary message.
If you check Suppress Duplicates and the action set includes an escalation group whose members are detail actions, Oracle Alert performs the detail action that corresponds to the appropriate escalation level. Once Oracle Alert performs the action that corresponds to the highest escalation level, it ceases performing actions within that escalation group. If you uncheck Suppress Duplicates, then once Oracle Alert performs the action that corresponds to the highest escalation level, it continues to perform that same action during each alert check. See: Overview of Oracle Alert History.
Note: Use the Check for Duplicates check box in the Outputs alternative regions of the Alert Details and Action Sets windows to tell Oracle Alert which outputs to consider when checking for duplicates.
6. Enable the action set.
7. Enter a value in End Date if you want to disable the action set by a certain date.
8. To add the actions, escalation groups, and/or threshold groups to your current action set, display the Members alternative region.
9. Assign each action set member a sequence number so that you can specify the order in which the members are performed.
Oracle Alert defaults the next available sequence number, but you can change the number if, for example, you want to re-sequence the actions in the action set. You can assign any sequence numbers you want, keeping in mind that Oracle Alert performs the actions so that two members with the same sequence number are performed in a random order.
10. Display the list of predefined actions, escalation groups, or threshold groups in the Action field to choose the members you want to include in the action set.
When you add a member to your action set, Oracle Alert automatically displays in the Type field, whether the member is an action, escalation group, or threshold group, and what its action type is (message, concurrent request, operating script, or SQL statement script). Oracle Alert also indicates whether the member is enabled.
11. You can also assign additional actions for Oracle Alert to take if a particular action in an action set fails.
If an action fails, you can choose to have Oracle Alert abort the action set, continue processing other action set members, or process another action set.
If you select Set: in the On Error Action field, Oracle Alert leaves the current action set and performs the action set whose sequence number you specify in the Seq field when an error occurs. If you select Member:, Oracle Alert performs the action set member whose sequence number you specify in the Seq field.
12. Enter a value in End Date to disable the action set member by a certain date.
13. Display the Inputs alternative region.
14. The input values you assign at the alert level become the default values for each action set. You can change the default input values for a particular action set by using the Inputs alternative region.
Note: When you change an input value in an action set, you simply change the value in that action set. The new value does not get propagated as a new default value for other occurrences of that input.
For example, an alert showing overdue password changes might include three outputs: User Name, Date Password Changed, and Current Date. If you want Oracle Alert to consider only User Name and Date Password Changed when checking for duplicates, you uncheck the Check for Duplicates check box for the Current Date output. Since the value of Current Date will always be different each time the alert is checked, an exception would never be considered a duplicate if Current Date is included in the duplicate configuration.
Note: The duplicate check configuration you define at the action set level overrides the duplicate configuration you define at the alert level.
17. Save your work. Your alert is ready for use.
1. Select the action set you wish to delete in the Action Sets window of the Alerts form.
2. Choose from the Edit menu, Delete Record.
You can delete an action set if there is no history saved for the action set.
See Also
Overview of Oracle Alert History
Defining a Summary Threshold
