AX3250

Alert properties

Each alert defined on the Alert Control Sheet has the following alert properties.

The Alert Control Sheet is only visible to administrators or to users with both read/write permission to the file and Allow Unprotect permission. Otherwise, it is hidden by default.

NOTE: If you plan to process alerts using File Processing, then you can use GetCurrentValue to dynamically incorporate the current pass into certain alert settings, such as the alert ID, or the notification title.

Item
[Column Tag] Description

Item [Column Tag]	Description
Alert Tag [Alert]	The alert tag for the alert. Each alert defined in the sheet must be identified by an `[Alert]` tag. You can also use this tag to specify whether a particular alert is "active" or not. For example, you can set up the tag using a formula so that the cell either displays `[Alert]` or is blank based on some condition. This allows you to temporarily "disable" some alerts and exclude them from processing without needing to delete the entire alert definition.
Alert ID [ID]	The identifying code for the alert. This code is used to determine whether an alert is considered "new" or "existing" at the time of processing. If an existing alert in the database has the same code, then the alert is ignored even if the condition is True. In most cases, you will want to set up a dynamic alert ID that incorporates the desired alerting "interval." For example, if the file will be processed daily but you only want users to be alerted of a particular condition once per week at most, then the ID should incorporate some kind of indicator of the current week. You may also want to incorporate the document ID into the alert ID, so that there is no chance of duplicating alert IDs generated from another file. For more information about defining the alert ID and determining the alerting interval, see Controlling the frequency of alert notifications. The alert ID is only used for alert management purposes; it does not display to the user. The ID is limited to 255 characters.
Condition [Condition]	The condition to be evaluated when the alert is processed. This condition must evaluate to True or False. You can define any condition using an IF statement. For example, if you want to alert users when a particular variance exceeds a certain threshold, you can set up the file to query the necessary data and then calculate the variance, and then create an IF function that returns True when the variance exceeds the threshold, and False when it does not. For example: =IF(Report!G23 >= 0.1, "True","False")
Severity [Severity]	The severity of the alert. When an alert notification is displayed in the Notifications task pane (or the Notifications panel in the Web Client), an icon indicates the severity. `Info` `Warning` `Error` The severity is provided to give the user a visual indication of the importance of the alert. The example icons shown above are from the Desktop Client. The Web Client uses similar icons but with different styling.
Alert Recipients [Recipients]	The Axiom Software users who should be notified if the alert condition resolves to True. You can specify one or more user login names or role names. Separate multiple names with semicolons. Role names must be prefixed with `role:` (for example, role:Finance). If a role is specified, the alert notification is displayed to all users who belong to the role at the time the alert was generated.
Deliver To [Delivery]	Optional. Specify how the alert notification should be delivered: `Email`: Deliver the alert notification via email, using the email address defined for the recipients within Axiom security. `TaskPane` (default): Deliver the alert notification via the Notifications task pane. If left blank, the notification will be delivered via the Notifications task pane. If you want the notification to be delivered via email and the Notifications task pane, enter both options separated by a semicolon like so: `Email;TaskPane`
Supporting File [NavigateTo]	Optional. Specify a supporting file that a user can open to get more information about the alert condition. See the discussion following this table for more information on how to specify the file. If this setting is left blank, then the alert notification will not contain any link to open a file (whether the notification is displayed in the task pane or delivered via email).
View As Form [ViewAsForm]	Optional. Specify whether the supporting file should be opened as an Axiom form in the Desktop Client, if the supporting file is form-enabled. If True, the file will be opened as a form; if False, the source spreadsheet file will be opened. If nothing is specified (either the column is blank or the column is not present) then True is assumed as the default. This setting is ignored if the supporting file is not form-enabled. It is also ignored if the link is opened from the Notifications panel in the Web Client. From the Web Client, if the file is form-enabled then it is always opened as a form (unless a cell address is specified in the Supporting File property, in which case the source spreadsheet file will be opened so that the designated cell can be shown).
Notification Title [Title]	The title of the alert notification. The title should be brief yet give the user an idea as to the content of the alert. For example: "Budget Variance Alert". The title is limited to 255 characters.
Notification Message [Message]	The message for the alert notification. Ideally, the message should explain to the user what the alert condition is, why they are being notified, and what action (if any) the user should take as a result of the alert. The message is limited to 2000 characters.

Alert Tag

[Alert]

The alert tag for the alert. Each alert defined in the sheet must be identified by an [Alert] tag.

You can also use this tag to specify whether a particular alert is "active" or not. For example, you can set up the tag using a formula so that the cell either displays [Alert] or is blank based on some condition. This allows you to temporarily "disable" some alerts and exclude them from processing without needing to delete the entire alert definition.

Alert ID

[ID]

The identifying code for the alert. This code is used to determine whether an alert is considered "new" or "existing" at the time of processing. If an existing alert in the database has the same code, then the alert is ignored even if the condition is True.

In most cases, you will want to set up a dynamic alert ID that incorporates the desired alerting "interval." For example, if the file will be processed daily but you only want users to be alerted of a particular condition once per week at most, then the ID should incorporate some kind of indicator of the current week. You may also want to incorporate the document ID into the alert ID, so that there is no chance of duplicating alert IDs generated from another file.

For more information about defining the alert ID and determining the alerting interval, see Controlling the frequency of alert notifications.

The alert ID is only used for alert management purposes; it does not display to the user. The ID is limited to 255 characters.

Condition

[Condition]

The condition to be evaluated when the alert is processed. This condition must evaluate to True or False.

You can define any condition using an IF statement. For example, if you want to alert users when a particular variance exceeds a certain threshold, you can set up the file to query the necessary data and then calculate the variance, and then create an IF function that returns True when the variance exceeds the threshold, and False when it does not. For example:

=IF(Report!G23 >= 0.1, "True","False")

Severity

[Severity]

The severity of the alert. When an alert notification is displayed in the Notifications task pane (or the Notifications panel in the Web Client), an icon indicates the severity.

Info
Warning
Error

The severity is provided to give the user a visual indication of the importance of the alert. The example icons shown above are from the Desktop Client. The Web Client uses similar icons but with different styling.

Alert Recipients

[Recipients]

The Axiom Software users who should be notified if the alert condition resolves to True.

You can specify one or more user login names or role names. Separate multiple names with semicolons.

Role names must be prefixed with role: (for example, role:Finance). If a role is specified, the alert notification is displayed to all users who belong to the role at the time the alert was generated.

Deliver To

[Delivery]

Optional. Specify how the alert notification should be delivered:

Email: Deliver the alert notification via email, using the email address defined for the recipients within Axiom security.
TaskPane (default): Deliver the alert notification via the Notifications task pane.

If left blank, the notification will be delivered via the Notifications task pane.

If you want the notification to be delivered via email and the Notifications task pane, enter both options separated by a semicolon like so: Email;TaskPane

Supporting File

[NavigateTo]

Optional. Specify a supporting file that a user can open to get more information about the alert condition. See the discussion following this table for more information on how to specify the file.

If this setting is left blank, then the alert notification will not contain any link to open a file (whether the notification is displayed in the task pane or delivered via email).

View As Form

[ViewAsForm]

Optional. Specify whether the supporting file should be opened as an Axiom form in the Desktop Client, if the supporting file is form-enabled.

If True, the file will be opened as a form; if False, the source spreadsheet file will be opened. If nothing is specified (either the column is blank or the column is not present) then True is assumed as the default.

This setting is ignored if the supporting file is not form-enabled. It is also ignored if the link is opened from the Notifications panel in the Web Client. From the Web Client, if the file is form-enabled then it is always opened as a form (unless a cell address is specified in the Supporting File property, in which case the source spreadsheet file will be opened so that the designated cell can be shown).

Notification Title

[Title]

The title of the alert notification. The title should be brief yet give the user an idea as to the content of the alert. For example: "Budget Variance Alert".

The title is limited to 255 characters.

Notification Message

[Message]

The message for the alert notification. Ideally, the message should explain to the user what the alert condition is, why they are being notified, and what action (if any) the user should take as a result of the alert.

The message is limited to 2000 characters.

Specifying the supporting file for the alert

If you want the user to be able to open a supporting file that contains more information about the alert condition, you can specify either of the following:

A location in the current file, such as Report!G23. When the user receives the alert, they can click a link to open the file and be taken to the specified location.
A file path to a different file. When the user receives the alert, they can click a link to open the file and be taken to the specified location (if applicable).

The full Axiom file path must be specified, such as: \Axiom\Reports Library\Monthly Reports\Variance_Report.xlsx. If desired, you can specify a location in the file using the following syntax:

FilePath;Location

For example: \Axiom\Reports Library\Monthly Reports\Variance_Report.xlsx;Report!D25

TIP: You can right-click a file in Axiom Explorer or the Explorer task pane and choose Copy document path to clipboard, then paste the path into the alert definition.

In both cases, the user must have at least read-only rights to the file in order to open it from the alert notification.

NOTES:

If the supporting file references a location in the current file and you process alerts using File Processing, then when the user clicks the link in the notification to open the file, the multipass filter will automatically be applied to the file. This allows the user to view the file using the same context that generated the alert. Axiom queries should be set to refresh on open in this case, so that the filter is applied when the file is opened. Note that this behavior does not apply if the link is opened from the Notifications panel in the Web Client.
If the supporting document is opened as an Axiom form in the Desktop Client, the cell location within the file does not apply and will be ignored if specified.