3.0 Understanding Triggers

A trigger evaluates incoming events and determines whether to initiate a work item or append one or more events to existing work items. When you create or revise a trigger, you specify the trigger rules on the following tabs:

Initiate New Work Item If

If events match the rules on this tab, the trigger initiates a work item and attaches the triggering event to the work item as a related event. If multiple events match the rules, the trigger attaches all of the events to the work item. For more information about initiating a work item, see Understanding Initiation Expressions.

Block New Work Item If

If events match the rules on this tab, the trigger blocks the creation of a new work item. For more information about blocking a work item, see Understanding Blocking Expressions.

Append to Previous Work Item If

If events match the rules on this tab, the trigger appends the events to an existing work item. For more information about appending events to a work item, see Understanding Appending Expressions.

By default, a trigger does not require a single event to meet all rules on any of the tabs. The trigger requires only that one or more events meet all specified rules within the specified time window. For example, the rules in the previous image initiate a new work item if either of the following occurs:

  • One incoming AppManager.Event event has a GreyMachines KS and an event summary message that contains Server Availability:.

  • Two separate incoming events occur within two minutes of each other:

    • One AppManager.Event event with a GreyMachines KS

    • One AppManager.Event event with an event summary message that contains Server Availability:

If you want to ensure a trigger requires one event to meet all rules, you can create a named event and assign it to the rule. For more information about named events, see Understanding Named Events.