A data monitor is a scheduled execution of a saved report that sends an email notification when a specified threshold is met. Multiple data monitors can be created for a single saved report, for different purposes.

The data monitor will execute at the specified frequency up to the maximum number of firings specified (if any). When a data monitor execution meets the defined threshold, specified recipients receive a notification email with a link to the executed report in Windchill.

Data monitors can be useful for automating reports that must be run on a regular basis and distributing the output to the necessary individuals. Data monitors are also useful as alerts, especially when used with a threshold value. For example, if you have a saved report that returns the problem reports against a part, you could create a data monitor for that saved report with a threshold value of 4 which would run daily. When the threshold of 4 problem reports is met that report would be distributed to a list of specified users, who could then act on that information.

Two background queues are used for managing data monitors:

When a data monitor is created, an entry is added to the schedule queue for each scheduled instance of the data monitor execution. When a scheduled instance is executed, an entry is added to the process queue. The schedule queue status is displayed in the Status column of the Data Monitors; the process queue status is displayed in the Status column of the Executed Reports table on the data monitor information page.

For more information on queues and queue status, see Viewing Queue Information