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Process Automation Designer triggers

Process Automation Designer triggers specify when to start running your process.

In Process Automation Designer, triggers indicate when your process should start running. Each trigger has a type and conditions that, when met, start running your activated process definition.

You can choose a trigger when you create a process definition in Process Automation Designer. Start by adding a trigger, which defines the trigger type. Then, set conditions and other options to refine your trigger so that it fires in a way that makes sense for your business process. For more information, see Create a process definition.

If there are no triggers that fit your use case, you can create your own trigger definition instead. For more information, see Create a trigger definition.

When the conditions specified in your trigger are met anywhere in the Now Platform, your automated process starts running. — Figure 1. How triggers work

Trigger types

In your Trigger Definition [sys_pd_trigger_definition] record, you can choose a trigger type, which determines when your trigger fires. These trigger types represent record operations that can occur in the Now Platform®. The following trigger types are available in your instance by default:

Record Created: The process runs when a user creates a record anywhere in the Now Platform.
Record Updated: The process runs when a user updates an existing record anywhere in the Now Platform.
Record Created or Updated: The process runs when a user creates a record or updates an existing record anywhere in the Now Platform.

Note: Triggers only fire for record operations that are interactive, or made by users. Triggers don't fire for non-interactive record operations. For more information, see Non-interactive sessions.

Conditions to run

After you add a trigger to your process, you can then set conditions and other options that determine when and how your trigger fires.


Option	Action
Conditions	Use the condition builder to create field conditions for when your process runs. See Condition builder.
Run my process	Choose an option for when your process runs. Options include: Once: Triggers the process definition once for the life of the triggering input record. For each unique change: Triggers the process definition for every unique update to a non-system field even if the flow is currently running. Note: The system stores a history of every change to a record and determines whether the change is unique. For example, if an incident record's State field changes from In Progress to On Hold, the process definition runs. However, if the State field then changes back to In Progress, the process definition doesn't run. Note: Process definitions that have a trigger that runs For each unique change can produce recursions when run in a non-interactive session. When such processes make a change to the trigger record, the change meets the process definition's trigger conditions and causes a recursion. Only if not currently running: Triggers the process definition for every unique change if a process execution is not currently running. For every update: Triggers the process definition every time the input record is updated, regardless of whether there has already been or there currently are any running process executions.
Run on extended	Select this option to trigger the process on tables that extend from your selected table. For example, if you enable this option and select the Task [task] table, your process runs when record operations occur on the Incident [incident] table. For more information, see Table extensions and classes.

Design considerations

Refer to these design considerations when working with triggers:

Create unique filter conditions for record triggers on the same table: To prevent processes from overwriting each other, create unique filter conditions for each process that runs on the same table. If multiple processes on the same table have the same filter, there is no way to know the order in which the processes will run.
Avoid duplicating triggers used in Flow Designer flows: Process Automation Designer triggers do not override Flow Designer triggers. For both applications, when the trigger conditions are met, the automated processes run.
Ignore records added or updated by import and update sets: Record triggers ignore records that were added or updated by applying an update set or importing an XML file. These operations apply to the entire application or table instead of an individual record.

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Process Automation Designer triggers

Process Automation Designer triggers specify when to start running your process.

In Process Automation Designer, triggers indicate when your process should start running. Each trigger has a type and conditions that, when met, start running your activated process definition.

If there are no triggers that fit your use case, you can create your own trigger definition instead. For more information, see Create a trigger definition.

Trigger types

Record Created: The process runs when a user creates a record anywhere in the Now Platform.
Record Updated: The process runs when a user updates an existing record anywhere in the Now Platform.
Record Created or Updated: The process runs when a user creates a record or updates an existing record anywhere in the Now Platform.

Note: Triggers only fire for record operations that are interactive, or made by users. Triggers don't fire for non-interactive record operations. For more information, see Non-interactive sessions.

Conditions to run

After you add a trigger to your process, you can then set conditions and other options that determine when and how your trigger fires.


Option	Action
Conditions	Use the condition builder to create field conditions for when your process runs. See Condition builder.
Run my process	Choose an option for when your process runs. Options include: Once: Triggers the process definition once for the life of the triggering input record. For each unique change: Triggers the process definition for every unique update to a non-system field even if the flow is currently running. Note: The system stores a history of every change to a record and determines whether the change is unique. For example, if an incident record's State field changes from In Progress to On Hold, the process definition runs. However, if the State field then changes back to In Progress, the process definition doesn't run. Note: Process definitions that have a trigger that runs For each unique change can produce recursions when run in a non-interactive session. When such processes make a change to the trigger record, the change meets the process definition's trigger conditions and causes a recursion. Only if not currently running: Triggers the process definition for every unique change if a process execution is not currently running. For every update: Triggers the process definition every time the input record is updated, regardless of whether there has already been or there currently are any running process executions.
Run on extended	Select this option to trigger the process on tables that extend from your selected table. For example, if you enable this option and select the Task [task] table, your process runs when record operations occur on the Incident [incident] table. For more information, see Table extensions and classes.

Design considerations

Refer to these design considerations when working with triggers:

Create unique filter conditions for record triggers on the same table: To prevent processes from overwriting each other, create unique filter conditions for each process that runs on the same table. If multiple processes on the same table have the same filter, there is no way to know the order in which the processes will run.
Avoid duplicating triggers used in Flow Designer flows: Process Automation Designer triggers do not override Flow Designer triggers. For both applications, when the trigger conditions are met, the automated processes run.
Ignore records added or updated by import and update sets: Record triggers ignore records that were added or updated by applying an update set or importing an XML file. These operations apply to the entire application or table instead of an individual record.

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Process Automation Designer triggers

Process Automation Designer triggers

Trigger types

Conditions to run

Design considerations

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Process Automation Designer triggers

Process Automation Designer triggers

Trigger types

Conditions to run

Design considerations

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