Overview
The Scheduler enables you to define a schedule that will execute on a recurring basis and have an action take place for each individual targeted record. On the schedule defined it executes and returns a set of records determined by the FetchXML (Advanced Find) query. Next it loops through the set of records and either executes the associated workflow for each record or it updates the specific record's fields to the same value which then trigger any associated Formulas.
Note: In CRM 2013 and later editions the embedded Advanced Find has been replaced by a simple Query FetchXML field. So you will need to manually obtain the FetchXML from the out of the box Advanced Find and then copy & paste into this field
General
General Settings
Name
- The name of the Schedule which just needs to be a descriptive name of what the Schedule is trying to achieve
Frequency
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Once: The Schedule will only execute once
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Hourly: The Schedule will execute on an hourly basis
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Daily: The Schedule will execute on an daily basis
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Weekly: The Schedule will execute on an weekly basis
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Every X Months: The Schedule will execute every X months, where X is defined by the field named 'Every X'
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Every X Weeks: The Schedule will execute every X weeks, where X is defined by the field named 'Every X'
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Every X Days: The Schedule will execute every X days, where X is defined by the field named 'Every X'
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Every X Hours: The Schedule will execute every X hours, where X is defined by the field named 'Every X'
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Every X Minutes: The Schedule will execute every X minutes, where X is defined by the field named 'Every X'
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Yearly: The Schedule will execute on an yearly basis
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Quarterly: The Schedule will execute on an quarterly basis
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Monthly: The Schedule will execute on an monthly basis
Schedule Type
- Entity Update: When the Schedule begins it will execute the Advanced Find query (FetchXML) and for each record returned will issue an update command on that record setting all the defined fields in the query to the same values. This has the effect of triggering any formulas that are registered to this entity. An example:
- A Schedule runs and executes the associated query
- It returns 100 Opportunity records and has 2 fields defined: Est. Revenue and Probability
- Next, it loops through each of the 100 Opportunity records and executes an update statement to each record, setting the 2 fields Est. Revenue and Probability to the existing values
- Consider that the first Opportunity record had a Est. Revenue of $1,000 and a Probability of 75% the update would set the 2 fields to $1,000 and 75% respectively. This is done to trigger any associated formulas that are registered to the opportunity entity
- Global Action: When the Schedule begins it will execute the specified Global Action. There is no FetchXML query defined for a Global Action Schedule
- Workflow: When the schedule begins it will execute the Advanced Find query (FetchXML) and for each record returned will execute the specified Workflow. An example:
- A Schedule runs and executes the associated query
- It returns 50 contact records
- Next, it loops through each of the 50 contact records and executes the specified workflow
Workflow
- Lookup field to the Workflow/Action that you want to execute for each record returned from the FetchXML
Date Settings
Start DateTime
- The start datetime for the Schedule. The Scheduler will wait until this time is reached before executing
End DateTime
- The end datetime for the Schedule. The Scheduler will stop the Schedule when this datetime as been reached no matter how the Scheduler is configured
Last Run DateTime
- Indicates the last time this Schedule was executed by the Scheduler
Next Run DateTime:
- Indicates the next time the Scheduler will execute. If this datetime is in the past the Scheduler will execute immediately when started
FetchXML Query
Query
- This allows you to define an Advanced Find query (i.e. FetchXML) that is executed each time the Schedule runs. The query results are the target set of records for this Schedule