Help Manual

Contents






Sigma Magic Help Version 19

Scheduler

Overview

A scheduler is a system or process that manages the execution of tasks, jobs, or processes based on specific conditions, priorities, or time intervals. The scheduler can be used within Sigma Magic to periodically update the data from external connections and the analysis results based on the new data. If certain conditions are satisfied, we can email users the Analysis results so they can take preventive or corrective action.

This tool can be added to your active workbook by clicking on Options, Subroutines, and then selecting Scheduler. Note that you can have only one scheduler worksheet within each workbook.

Inputs

Click on Analysis Setup to open the menu options for this tool. There are five tabs on the right: Trigger, Actions, Email, Reports, and Verify. We will cover each of these tabs in the next few sections. Let's first click on the General tab if it is not currently selected.

Trigger

A sample screenshot of the General menu is shown below. input 1
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When should the tasks be run?: Specify when you want the scheduler to run. The available options are:
OptionDescription
OnceThe scheduler will run only once and then stop.
HourlyThe scheduler will be run every hour starting from the time you click on the Start button. Note that this schedule does not have an end date, so it will continue to run until you click on the Stop button.
DailyThe scheduler will be run every day starting from the time you click on the Start button. Note that this schedule does not have an end date, so it will continue to run until you click on the Stop button.
WeeklyThe scheduler will be run every week starting from the time you click on the Start button. Note that this schedule does not have an end date, so it will continue to run until you click on the Stop button.
CustomThe scheduler will be run per the custom schedule you specify below when you click on the Start button.
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Custom Schedule: You must specify the details of the custom schedule if you pick this option.
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Schedule Start Date: Specify the start date and time for the first execution. Use your system date and time format. For example, if you specify the start date as 27/03/2025, 15:00:00, the first task will be executed after 27 March 2025 at 3 pm. If you skip specifying the time, it will be assumed to start at midnight (00:00:00).
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Schedule End Date: Specify the end date and time for the last execution. Use your system date and time format. For example, if you specify the end date as 30 03 2025 at 15:00:00, the last task will be executed before 30 March 2025 at 3 pm. Once this limit is reached, the execution will automatically stop the scheduler.
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Frequency: Specify the frequency at which you want to run the tasks. For example, if you specify that the frequency is 1 hour, then the scheduler will be first run at the start date & time specified and then repeated every hour. If you specify 30 minutes, the scheduler will run every 30 minutes. Don't use too small values; the program needs time to run. For example, if you want the scheduler to run every 1 second and the time to execute the entire program is 30 seconds, then there will be a long queue of tasks that will be pending and may cause your system to crash. The minimum frequency you can set is 1 minute.
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Working Days: Select the days of the week you want the program to run. If a day is unchecked, the scheduler will skip running at that time and move to the next valid date.
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Working Hours: Select the hours of the day you want the program to run. If no time is specified, it will run continuously. However, if you specify a 9-5 time slot, then the algorithm will only run during these times.
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Verify: You can use this tab to see if you have made any errors in any inputs required for this analysis.
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Cancel Button: Click on this button to discard any changes and close the dialog box.
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Stop Button: Please click this button to stop any background schedules.
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Start Button: Please click this button to save any changes and start the scheduler if there are no errors in your inputs.
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Status Button: The status button displays if any scheduler is currently running in the background.
OptionDescription
1No schedules are currently running in the background.
2Scheduler is currently running in the background.
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Help: Click on this button to open the help file for this topic.

Actions

You will see the following dialog box if you click the Actions button. input 3
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Refresh all workbook data connections: If you select this checkbox, the scheduler will refresh any external data connections within this workbook. This checkbox is required to use the latest data from an external connection like an external file or database. If you don't select this checkbox, only the data stored in the current workbook will be used for any analysis.
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Update worksheets: Select this checkbox to update any analysis results during each scheduled run. If you select this checkbox, select at least one worksheet you want to update.
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Select Worksheets: Click on the worksheets to select them. You can select one or more worksheets for updates. Note that only Sigma Magic worksheets are displayed in this list box. It is assumed that other non-Sigma Magic worksheets in your workbook will be auto-updated when you update your data if you have set the Automatic Calculations setting within Excel. Ensure that File > Options > Formulas > Workbook Calculation is set to Automatic. For example, if you have three worksheets created by Sigma Magic in your workbook but select only one worksheet, then only that one will be updated during the scheduled run.
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Save Workbook: Select this checkbox to save the current workbook at the end of each schedule run.
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Display Worksheet: Select this checkbox to display any worksheet after the scheduled run has ended. If you don't select this checkbox, the software will end with the Scheduler task worksheet at the end of each run. However, let's say you have a dashboard that you want to display to users at the end of each run; you can use this checkbox to select the worksheet that should be displayed.
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Select Worksheets: In this list box, all the worksheets within your workbook are displayed. You can only select one worksheet for this list box. When you select a worksheet at the end of the scheduled run, this worksheet will be displayed to the user. You can use this, for example, to display a real-time dashboard.

Email

Emails can be sent to users from the scheduler. Currently, only Microsoft Outlook emails are supported. If you are using Microsoft Outlook, then the Emails will be sent from Microsoft Outlook using your default account. You will see the following dialog box if you click the Email button. input 4
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Email Users: Specify the condition to use for sending out emails to users. The following options are available:
OptionDescription
NoNo emails are sent to the users.
YesEmails are sent to the users at the end of every scheduled run.
ConditionalEmails are sent to the users if the conditional cell evaluates to true.
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Email Condition: Sometimes, we don't want to send an email at every scheduled run. In such cases, we can specify a condition for sending the email in this text box. You can reference a cell in your Excel workbook. If this cell evaluates to true, an email is sent; if the cell evaluates to false, no email is sent. An example could be if the process is in control, don't send an email, and send the email if the process is not in control. Create a cell in your Excel workbook that evaluates to true if the process is not in control, and reference that cell here in the dialog box. Click on this button to select the worksheet cell. This will place the selected cell in the text box on the left.
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To: Specify the email address to which you want to send the email. You can have multiple email addresses by separating them with a semi-colon. You can either hardcode the email addresses here or specify a worksheet cell that contains the email addresses. In that case, you can change the email address in your workbook based on certain conditions. For example, if the email addresses are stored in cell A1. You can specify one email address if the process is in control and a second email address if the process is not in control.
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Select Button: Click on this button to select the cell that contains the email address. When the scheduler runs, it will pick up the email address from this cell. Use the worksheet cell if you have variable email addresses based on certain conditions of the analysis results.
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Subject: Specify the subject line for the email. You can either hardcode the subject by typing it here or refer to a worksheet cell for the subject content. For example, if you want to change the subject line based on the analysis results, refer to a cell (say B1). If the process is in control, the subject could say, "All is Well"; if not, it could say, "Problem Detected - Help!".
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Select Button: Click on this button to select the cell that contains the email subject. When the scheduler runs, it will pick up the subject from this cell. Use the worksheet cell if you have a variable subject title based on certain conditions of the analysis results.
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Message: Specify the message body for the email. By typing it here, you can either hardcode the message if the body does not change for each email or refer to a worksheet cell for the message content. For example, if you want to change the message body based on the analysis results, refer to a cell (say C1). If the process is in control, your message body may state that everything is under control; if not, you could provide more details about the issue or refer to any data in the attachments.
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Select Button: Click on this button to select the cell that contains the email body. When the scheduler runs, it will pick up the message from this cell. Use the worksheet cell if you have a variable message body based on certain conditions of the analysis results.
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Attachment: Select this checkbox to attach any files to the email. You can currently pick one worksheet to attach to your email. It can be any worksheet in your workbook - not necessarily a Sigma Magic worksheet.
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Attachment Format: Specify if you want to attach the worksheet as an Excel or PDF file.
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Attachment Files: The list of all available worksheets is displayed in this list box. Select the worksheet that you want to attach to your email.

Summary Report

By default, only the run number and the date and time of the run are displayed in this report. However, you can add other fields that interest you. This report will be updated each time the the scheduler runs the file. You will see the following dialog box if you click the Reports button. input 5
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Num Columns: Specify how many additional columns you want to add to the report. In the example above, we have selected three additional columns.
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Row Order: You can add new run data at the bottom of the report or to the top.
OptionDescription
ForwarwdThe runs are shown in chronological order. The last row in this table contains the latest run details.
ReverseThe runs are shown in reverse chronological order. The first row in this table contains the latest run details.
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Name: Specify the name of the header column. In this example, the first added column contains the number of data points, the second column contains the control status, and the third row contains the process capability metric (Sigma Level Z)
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Value: Specify the worksheet cell that contains the value we are interested in so that it can be displayed in the summary report. If this is a hardcoded value, you can also enter the value directly in this textbox.
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Button: Click on this button to select the cell that contains the values data. When you click on this button, you can select the cell of interest in your workbook, and that cell reference details are populated in the left textbox.

Verify

If you click the Verify button, the software will perform some checks on the inputs you entered. A sample screenshot of the dialog box is shown in the figure below. input 6 The software checks if you have correctly specified the input options and entered the required data on the worksheet. The results of the analysis checks are listed on the right. If the checks are passed, they are shown as green checkmarks. If the verification checks fail, they are shown as a red cross. If the verification checks result in a warning, they are indicated by an orange exclamation mark. Additionally, any checks that require user action are displayed as blue information icons.
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Item: The left-hand side shows the major tabs and the items checked within each section
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Test: The description of the test performed is listed below.
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Status: The right-hand side shows the status of the checks.
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Overall Status: The overall status of all the checks for the given analysis is shown here. The overall status check shows a green thumbs-up sign if everything is okay and a red thumbs-down sign if any checks have not passed. Note that you cannot generate analysis results for some analyses if the overall status is not okay.

Outputs

To run the scheduler, click on Compute Outputs. There are no specific outputs for this analysis. The software will determine when to run the scheduler based on the trigger conditions. Next, it will examine the actions to determine if the data needs to be refreshed and if any worksheets require updates. It then updates the entire workbook and sends out an email to users if specified. Finally, it will update the reports section and display the final worksheet, if specified, at the end of each run. This process is repeated until the end condition is reached. A sample screenshot of the worksheet that contains scheduler reports is shown below. outputs