Utilities (Cloud Automation)

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Introduction

Utilities for date format conversions and a password generator have been provided as part of the Cloud Automations that can be used within a BMP or AutoTask workflow.

Within the workflow designer, when adding a new node, select the option for Cloud Automation. No authentication or licensing is required to access and use these utilities.

Adding a Utility to a Workflow

Add a Cloud Automation node to your workflow
Access the properties of that node
On the Method field, select edit button to view the available integrations
Find Utilities within the list
Expand and select the automation that you wish to use.

Current Day

Retrieves the current day of the week and stores it in a variable which can be used in other Hornbill Automations or decision nodes.

Request Paramaters

There are no request parameters to configure. Simply add this Cloud Automation where needed in your workflow and then use the Response Parameter with decision nodes or other automations.

Response Paramaters

Current Day

Possible values include Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Example Use

Prior to a Service Manager Request Assignment automation, you may want to check the current day of the week. If it is a Saturday or Sunday you could take the decision to assign to a team that covers weekends.

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Date Formatter

Lets you take the format of one date and convert it to another format. This is then stored in a variable which can be used in other Hornbill Automations. See Date Format Characters to get a list of characters that can be used when defining your input and output formats.

Request Parameters

Date

Most commonly, the variable picker will be used to get a date/time that is stored in a date/time field within Hornbill or it has been collected using Intelligent Capture.

Input Format

Hornbill stores Date and Time in UTC format. This can be represented using Y-m-d H:i:s (2022-11-16 18:11:00).

Y - A full numeric representation of a year, at least 4 digits (1999,2003, 2022)

m - Numeric representation of a month, with leading zeros (01 through 12)

d - Day of the month, 2 digits with leading zeros (01 to 31)

H - 24-hour format of an hour with leading zeros (00 through 23)

i - Minutes with leading zeros (00 to 59)

s - Seconds with leading zeros (00 through 59)

Output Format

Provide a format that you would like to convert the Date to using Date Format Characters.

Response Parameters

Date

Contains the date/time based on the new format that was defined in the Output Format

Example Use

If you are getting a date from an external integration, the date format may be stored differently in that external app and you'll need to convert it to UTC format that's used in Hornbill.

If you only require the part of the original date, such as just the date (Y-m-d) or just the time (H:i:s)

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Get Date Difference

Returns the difference between two date/time stamps, in days, hours, minutes and seconds. In addition to this, it also provides a yes/no outcome for when the second time stamp is before the first time stamp.

Request Parameters

First DateTime

Type in the year, month, date, hours (24 hour), minutes, seconds to provide the first Date/Time. Or use the variable picker to select a date that is stored in Hornbill.

Second DateTime

Type in the year, month, date, hours (24 hour), minutes, seconds to provide the second Date/Time. Or use the variable picker to select a date that is stored in Hornbill.

Response Parameters

Days

The total number of days between the two dates

Hours

The total number of hours between the two dates

Minutes

The total number of minutes between the two dates

Second Timestamp before First Timestamp

Returns yes if true, and no if false

Seconds

The total number of seconds between the two dates

This automations assumes that UTC date/time format is being used. If you have dates from an external app through integrations that are not UTC format, you can use the Date Formatter to convert them to UTC.

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Get Day of Week

Returns the day of the week for the specified timestamp.

Request Parameter

Timestamp

Enter a UTC Timestamp by either entering the year, month, date, hours (24 hour), minutes, and seconds. Or use the variable picker to select a stored date in UTC format

Response Parameters

Day

Possible values include Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Example Use

On a Service Manager Request you may want to check to see what day of the week it was raised on.

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Get Next Date

Lets you set a day of the week and the automation will return the date that this day falls on. This is stored in a variable which can then be used in other BPM automations

Request Parameters

Day

Use the drop down picklist to select a day of the week

Time

Add a time using the format HH:MM:SS. Useful when you also required an event to occur at a certain time on the date provided in the response

Response Parameters

Date

This returns a UTC formatted date/time. If the Time Request Parameter is not provided, 00:00:00 will be used.

Example Use

You have a task that can only be done on Fridays and you need to get the date that the next Friday falls on so you can assign a Human Task to be due on this day.

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Get Timestamp

Lets you return a timestamp which is x days, hours, minutes before or after an existing timestamp. This is useful for generating a future date / time to use in other business process operations.

Request Parameters

Operator

From the picklist select either Add or Subtract

Starting Timestamp

Using the Variable Picker, select an avaiable variable that contains a UTC formatted date

Days

Set the number of days to add/subtract from the starting timestamp

Hours

Set the number of hours to add/subtract from the starting timestamp

Minutes

Set the number of minutes to add/subtract from the starting timestamp

Seconds

Set the number of seconds to add/subtract from the starting timestamp

Response Parameters

Timestamp

Returns the new date/time in UTC format

Timestamp SQL

Returns the new date/time in SQL format

Timestamp Unix - Milliseconds

Returns the new date/time in Unix format (Milliseconds)

Timestamp Unix - Seconds

Returns the new date/time in Unix format (Seconds)

Example Use

In a Service Manager Intelligent Capture you may ask a user how many days something will take to do. This will allow you to find out what the date is based on that number of days they give.

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Password Generator

A password generator tool to provide temporary passwords for users.

Request Paramaters

Excluded Characters

A list of characters to be excluded from the password

Contain Number

Must have at least one number

Length

The length of the generated password

Contain special character

at least one special character must be included

Contain Upper Case character

at least on upper case letter must be included

Response Paramaters

Password

Returns the newly generated password

Example Use

This could be used to automate Service Manager Requests for password resets. Integration could allow for the password update to take place automatically and then the temporary password communicated to the user.

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