Configure immediate instance generation for a node

Rules for immediate instance generation

• If you commit and deploy a node before 23:30, the system immediately generates an instance for the node. During the period from 23:30 to 24:00, the immediate instance generation feature does not take effect.
  • If the scheduled time for running your node is 10 or more minutes later than the time you commit and deploy your node, the system generates an instance for the node and runs the node. Then, you can view the instance in the instance list. For example, you commit and deploy your node at 18:00, and your node is scheduled to run at 18:30. In this case, the preceding situation occurs.
  • If the scheduled time for running your node is less than 10 minutes from the time you commit and deploy your node, the system generates an instance whose running is complete for the node. The instance is an expired instance that is generated in real time. For example, you commit and deploy your node at 18:00, and your node is scheduled to run at 18:05. In this case, the preceding situation occurs. The expired instance is not actually run.
• If you commit and deploy a node after 23:30, the immediate instance generation feature does not take effect. In this case, you cannot find the instance generated for the node in the instance list. You can find the instance two days after the node is committed and deployed.
• If a node is an isolated node, no instances can be generated for the node. An isolated node is a node that has no dependent ancestor nodes.

  For example, you set the Instance Generation Mode parameter to Next Day for Node A and Immediately After Deployment for Node B. Node B is a descendant node of Node A. Then, the system immediately generates an instance for Node B but does not immediately generate an instance for Node A. In this case, Node B cannot find the instance of Node A based on the dependencies between Node A and Node B. As a result, Node B becomes an isolated node and cannot be scheduled to run.

• If you change the instance generation mode of a node from Next Day to Immediately After Deployment, instance generation for the node on the current day is affected.
  • If the node is scheduled to run 10 or more minutes after you change the time to deploy the node, instances generated for the node are deleted and replaced with the instances that are immediately generated.
  • If the node is scheduled to run within 10 minutes after you change the time to deploy the node, instances generated for the node are retained.
• You cannot set the instance generation modes of node groups to Immediately After Deployment because node groups do not support the immediate instance generation feature. Node groups include PAI nodes, do-while nodes, and for-each nodes that contain inner nodes.

Instance generation mode

Scenario: The instance generation mode of Node A is Next Day, whereas that of the descendant nodes of Node A is Immediately After Deployment.

The immediate instance generation feature is typically used in the following scenario: The instance generation mode of Node A is Next Day, whereas that of the descendant nodes of Node A is Immediately After Deployment. The following figure shows the dependencies between Node A and its descendant nodes. Based on the instance generation modes configured for Node A and its descendant nodes, the system immediately generates instances for the descendant nodes but generates an instance for Node A the next day. After the descendant nodes are committed and deployed, the instances immediately generated for the descendant nodes can run only if an instance is generated for Node A on the current day and the instance is successfully run. The following table describes the detailed situations involved in the preceding scenario and the impacts on the scheduling of the descendant nodes.

Situation	Impact on the scheduling of the descendant nodes	Summary
Both Node A and its descendant nodes are newly created on the current day. Instances are not generated for Node A when the descendant nodes are committed and deployed.	The system immediately generates instances for the descendant nodes but generates an instance for Node A the next day. As a result, the instances of the descendant nodes become isolated after both Node A and its descendant nodes are committed and deployed. If you select Previous Cycle and set Depend On to Instances of Current Node in the Dependencies section of the Properties tab for a descendant node of Node A, the descendant node becomes an isolated node and cannot be scheduled to run even if an instance is generated for Node A the next day. This is because the descendant node depends on an isolated instance that was generated on the previous day.	We recommend that you change the instance generation mode of Node A to Immediately After Deployment. This way, the system can automatically generate an instance for Node A after Node A is committed and deployed, and the descendant node of Node A can be scheduled to run.
An instance is generated for Node A, and a descendant node that uses the immediate instance generation mode is created on the current day. An instance has been generated for Node A when the descendant node is committed and deployed.	The system immediately generates an instance for the descendant node after the descendant node is committed and deployed. The generated instance depends on the instance of Node A. If the scheduling properties of the descendant node contain the following settings, different situations occur: The descendant node is scheduled by hour or minute. In this case, the instance generated for the descendant node depends on the instance that has been generated for Node A. Previous Cycle is selected and Depend On is set to Instances of Current Node for the descendant node. In this case, the first instance generated for the descendant node has no dependent ancestor instances, but subsequent instances generated for the descendant node can depend on their previous-cycle instances. The descendant node can be normally scheduled to run.	To run a node that is configured to depend on its previous-cycle instances, you must make sure that the instances of the node are normally run on the previous day.

Scenario: The instance generation mode of a node is changed from Next Day to Immediately After Deployment, and the scheduling cycle of the node is changed from hour to day.

In a workflow that is committed and deployed, the instance generation mode of Node A is Next Day, and Node A is scheduled by day, such as shili_1 in the following figure. The instance generation mode of the descendant nodes of Node A is Next Day, and these descendant nodes are scheduled by hour, such as shili_2 and shili_3 in the following figure.

Instances are generated and run for Node A and its descendant nodes the next day. After the instances are run for a period of time, the scheduling cycle of shili_2 is changed from hour to day, and the instance generation mode of shili_2 is changed to Immediately After Deployment at the T1 time point. The following figure shows the changes.