When Alerts Check
Set the check time and time zone, follow a Data Flow's runs, and wait for late-arriving data before an alert checks.
Open When it checks in the alert form and select Change to set the check time, time zone, and how long to wait for late data. The form describes what the next check will look at, for example "On Tue, Oct 21 it checks Mon, Oct 20 (yesterday)."
Daily Checks
An alert created from a chat checks once a day, at 7:00 AM by default. Choose any hour in Check at, and pick the Time zone the check time and dates use.
On Starter, alerts check once a week instead, every Monday at the hour you choose. Each weekly check looks at every day of the week before it, and the days that met the condition arrive together in one alert.
Each check pulls fresh data from the source, then looks at periods that have ended:
- Per day checks the most recent complete day.
- Per week and Per month check each week or month once it has ended.
Today is never checked, because its data isn't complete yet. Each period is checked once, so the same day, week, or month doesn't send a second alert on later checks.
Alerts on a Data Flow
An alert created from a Data Flow has no check time of its own. It checks after each successful run of the flow, on the flow's schedule or when someone selects Run now. Change the flow's schedule to change when the alert checks. You can still set the alert's time zone and late-data wait.
Wait for Late Data
Some sources take a day or more to finish reporting. Google Analytics, for example, can keep updating yesterday's numbers into the next day. Checking too early can fire an alert on numbers that are still filling in.
| Wait for late data | A daily check looks at |
|---|---|
| Don't wait (default) | Yesterday |
| 1 extra day | The day before yesterday |
| 2 extra days | 3 days ago |
| 3 extra days | 4 days ago |
For weekly and monthly alerts, the wait is added after the period ends. With Don't wait, a week that ends on Sunday is checked on Monday; with 1 extra day, it's checked on Tuesday.
Hourly Data
Alerts measure days, weeks, or months. If the table has hourly rows, they're combined per day with the metric you chose, so a Total adds up each day's hours.
Turning On, Resuming, and Missed Checks
When you create an alert, resume it, or change its rule, the first check looks only at the most recent complete period. It never sends alerts for older history or for the time it was paused.
If checks are missed, for example while a source is disconnected, the next check catches up on up to the 3 most recent periods it missed and sends them in one notification.