CloudEvents Triggers

Theme: Configure
Who Is It For? System Administrator, Automation Engineer

What Is It?

The CloudEvents Triggers module allows you to trigger Events within OpCon via externally-produced 'trigger events' which adhere to the CloudEvents Specification.

This module is used exclusively to manage triggering Events in OpCon when certain events happen on the OpCon MFT Server. For details, refer to MFT Server Triggers.

CloudEvents Trigger Format

A CloudEvents Trigger definition has two components: Trigger Filters and Trigger Events.

Trigger Filters

The Trigger Filters component lists all criteria an incoming trigger event must satisfy to activate the CloudEvents Trigger. Criteria use string-based Regular Expression matching against trigger event payload fields. Each filter criterion has a Filter Field (the payload attribute identifier) and a Filter Value (the Regular Expression to evaluate).

Use dot-notation for the Field identifier to reference nested data attributes. For example, given:

{
  type: 'com.example.exemplarEvent',
  data: {
    'resultCode': 0
  }
}

The Field identifier for type is type; for resultCode, it is data.resultCode.

Tip: If a filter criterion targets the type field with a known Filter Value from the selection list, Solution Manager provides contextual suggestions based on known trigger event schemas.

A CloudEvents Trigger may contain any number of filter criteria, including none:

• A trigger with no filters activates on every incoming trigger event
• A trigger with one filter (e.g., on source) activates for every event from that source
• When multiple criteria are included, all must pass for the trigger to activate

To trigger on any one of several criteria (OR logic), use the Copy functionality to create separate CloudEvents Trigger definitions, each with its own subset of criteria.

Trigger Events

The Trigger Events component lists all OpCon Events queued for processing when an incoming trigger event satisfies all filter criteria. For more information, see OpCon Events.

When configuring OpCon Events in this module, select the magic wand icon next to any Property field to open the Property Selector Dialog. This dialog includes $EXTERNAL Properties corresponding to attributes of the incoming trigger event. If a recognized type filter is associated with the Trigger Definition, additional $EXTERNAL.DATA Properties align with known attributes in the trigger event's data payload. Any $EXTERNAL Property is replaced with the corresponding value from the external triggering event during processing.

Trigger Events Data Format (CloudEvents)

This module implements the CloudEvents specification for defining and consuming trigger events. The full specification is available here.

Events are published in JSON format with the following fields:

Field Name	Description	Type	Required
id	A unique identifier for the event	string	✅
source	An identifier for the context in which the event occurred	URI	✅
specversion	The version of CloudEvents specification implemented by the producer	string	✅
type	Describes the type of event - defined by the producer	string	✅
data	Domain-specific information about this event	string	❌
datacontenttype	Describes the data type of any included event data	string	❌
dataschema	Identifies the schema which any included event data adheres to	URI	❌
subject	Identifies the subject of the event, if any	string	❌
time	Timestamp of when the event occurred	timestamp	❌

Events may also include Extension Attributes. The data attribute contains domain-specific event information; datacontenttype and dataschema describe its encoding and structure.

If datacontenttype is application/json and a JSON schema is provided in dataschema, the module provides contextual hinting in the interface and schema validation at the API.

Filtering Incoming Trigger Events

When a trigger event is submitted to the Solution Manager API, it is queued for processing against all defined CloudEvents Triggers. Each defined trigger is evaluated in turn:

• All filters associated with the CloudEvents Trigger are applied to the trigger event
• Only if every filter matches will the associated OpCon Events be queued for execution
• If the trigger event matches multiple CloudEvents Triggers, each matching trigger queues its own OpCon Events for execution

Filters are not guaranteed to evaluate in sequential order, and OpCon Events are not guaranteed to run in the order displayed. When multiple CloudEvents Triggers match, all their OpCon Events run in arbitrary order.

Examples

User Logon Alert

This CloudEvents Trigger displays a console message whenever an OpCon MFT Server user logs on. The source and time fields use .* (accept any input) as Filter Values and do not affect whether the trigger activates. The $EXTERNAL property identifiers provide contextual information to the display message.

Note: The type filter value com.sma.MFT.Server.Logon and the list label MFT Server Logon are equivalent; either can be entered. The same applies to all other known types.

Matching Trigger Event

{
  "source": "MFT Agent 1",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Logon",
  "data": {
    "logonUserName": "User1",
    ...
  },
  ...
}

Non-Matching Trigger Event

{
  "source": "MFT Agent 1",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Logoff",
  "data": {
    "logonUserName": "User1",
    ...
  },
  ...
}

Display Message When Text File Upload from Server Fails

This CloudEvents Trigger displays a console message and sends a notification email whenever the Server component of MFT Agent 1 fails to upload a .txt file.

Note: The type filter value com.sma.MFT.Server.Logon and the list label MFT Server Logon are equivalent; either can be entered. The same applies to all other known types.

Matching Trigger Event

{
  "source": "MFT Agent 1",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Upload",
  "data": {
    "file": "readme.txt",
    "result": 5,
    ...
  },
  ...
}

Non-Matching Trigger Events

{
  "source": "MFT Agent 2",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Upload",
  "data": {
    "file": "readme.txt",
    "result": 0,
    ...
  },
  ...
},
{
  "source": "MFT Agent 1",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Download",
  "data": {
    "file": "readme.txt",
    "result": 0,
    ...
  },
{
  "source": "MFT Agent 1",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Upload",
  "data": {
    "file": "readme.txt",
    "result": 0,
    ...
  },
  ...
}
{
  "source": "MFT Agent 1",
  "type": "com.sma.MFT.Server.Upload",
  "data": {
    "file": "readme",
    "result": 10,
    ...
  },
  ...
}
  ...
}

FAQs

Q: What does CloudEvents Triggers do?

The CloudEvents Triggers module allows you to trigger Events within OpCon via externally-produced 'trigger events' which adhere to the CloudEvents Specification.

Q: Where can you find CloudEvents Triggers in OpCon?

Access CloudEvents Triggers in Solution Manager or Enterprise Manager.

Glossary

Enterprise Manager (EM): OpCon's rich client graphical user interface for Windows and Linux, used to define schedules and jobs, manage automation data, and perform operational tasks.

Solution Manager: OpCon's browser-based graphical user interface for managing automation data, performing operational actions, and administering the system.

OpCon Event: A command sent to OpCon that triggers an automated action, such as adding a job to a schedule, updating a property value, sending a notification, or changing a job or schedule status.

Notification: A message sent by the SMA Notify Handler when a Machine, Schedule, or Job changes to a specific status. Notifications can be delivered as emails, text messages, Windows Event Log entries, SNMP traps, or other formats.

Resource: A numeric variable in OpCon representing a finite pool. Jobs can be configured to require a set number of resource units to run, limiting concurrent executions and preventing resource contention.

OpCon: Continuous' workflow automation platform. The OpCon server includes the database, SAM and Supporting Services (SAM-SS), and graphical user interfaces. agents installed on target platforms run jobs and report results.