Calendars, Schedules, Tasks, and Triggers › Administer Triggers

Administer Triggers

You can control processes with external applications using any of the following methods:

• Triggers
• Web services (SOAP)
• Command line utility
• Scripts

SOAP calls are recommended over triggers because Web services are more robust. Applications that cannot make SOAP calls can use triggers as an alternative.

Triggers allow external applications to start a process in CA Process Automation. A trigger invokes the CA Process Automation process that is defined in XML content or in an SNMP trap. The XML content can be delivered to the configured file location or to the configured email address. SNMP trap content can be sent in an OID matching a configured regular expression. CA Process Automation listens for incoming SNMP traps on the configured SNMP trap port, 162 by default.

Whenever you start a process, begin an operation such as run the Start Process operator, or use a trigger or SOAP call, you are acting on behalf of some user or owner. For triggers or SOAP calls, information about the content owner is in the payload or messages. This information determines the versions of automation objects that are run:

• If you check out a process and then run, call, or trigger it (you are both the content owner and initiator), CA Process Automation uses your private checked-out version.
• Otherwise, CA Process Automation uses the current versions of the automation objects. This includes processes that are not checked out or checked out by another user.

You can run and verify your own checked-out version before checking the objects back in or making them current.