Forward Inactivity components

In their simplest form, Forward Inactivity components set a timer. They can also look for the absence of a specified event within a specified time span following the event that activates the component. If the specified event does not occur, the component fires.

For example, when a customer makes a purchase, you might want to determine whether he returns within the next month. For this, you would use a Forward Inactivity component.

The Forward Inactivity component requires the following settings.

Incoming Event: The event that activates the component. The timestamp of the incoming event is used as the starting point of the time span.
Time Span: The period of time after the timestamp of the incoming event before the component fires its positive event.

In addition, on the Batch Run tab of the workspace, you must set the Inactivity Mode and Inactivity Date fields when you run the workspace.

Inactivity Mode: Set this value to On for workspaces with Forward Inactivity components.
Inactivity Date: Set this to a value greater than the latest transaction date in the last transaction file being processed.

In the component editor, you can set additional specifications to modify the way the component behaves after it has been activated by the incoming event.

The reset option

You can add an optional reset to the component by checking the Reset the timer each time the incoming event occurs box in the Incoming Event panel. It changes the behavior of the Forward Inactivity component as follows.

Reset option is not enabled: After the component is activated by an incoming event, the component ignores any additional instances of the incoming event that have a timestamp that falls within the time span, until the time span is over. When the time span is over, the component fires its event.
Reset option is enabled: After the component is activated by an incoming event, if the component receives an additional instance of the incoming event that has a timestamp that falls within the time span, it resets the time span.

Canceling event

You can set an optional canceling event. If a canceling event occurs after the component is activated, it stops the clock on the time span and the component can again respond to an incoming event. The timestamp of the canceling event is used as the starting point for the reset time span.

Additional time settings

You can use the settings in the Effective Window and Firing Frequency panels to refine the component's behavior.