Creating a Rule for the Automation App

Created by Mohammed Hasan, Modified on Thu, 4 May, 2023 at 11:50 AM by Mohammed Hasan

Introduction

With Docebo’s Automation App, you can set specific rules and triggers in your platform in order to allow some processes to be automated. This article will outline how to create and manage different processes using the conditions and actions outlined for rules in the Automation app. To learn how to activate the app and manage created rules, please refer to the main Automation App article in the Knowledge Base.

When you're creating a rule using for FTP, note that Docebo only supports FTP, SFTP with credentials, and SFTP with pre-shared keys.

Creating an Automated Rule

In the automation app, you will be configuring rules to trigger under certain conditions. The rules are divided into two options, unscheduled rules, and scheduled rules. Unscheduled rules will be triggered to execute upon immediately meeting the condition. Scheduled rules will be executed at the time you specify.

By scheduling the rule, the triggering process will occur at the same time either daily, weekly, or monthly.

To configure the app, access the Admin Menu, then select the Manage item in the Automation section. On the Automation page, select the New Rule button at the top to create a new rule. In the pop-up box, insert the name and description of the rule, then press Next.

Flag whether you want to schedule the rule or allow the rule to trigger in real time when certain conditions are met. If you choose to schedule a rule, use the corresponding dropdown menus to set the parameters of daily, weekly, or monthly and the time to execute the rule (scheduled in 24-hour time). Press Next to continue.

When pulling a file via File Transfer Protocol (FTP/SFTP), your folder-file path can only be written to a 2nd or 1st level. See examples below:

Correct: home/HRISusers
Not correct (3 levels): home/NorthAmerica/HRISusers/

Please refer to the corresponding sections below for the process of each condition or action.

Condition: User Logged In

This condition will set the trigger for the rule to be a user logging into the platform. Once you have selected this condition, press Save Changes. Once added, review the active conditions, then flag whether all of the above conditions must be satisfied, or if at least one of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Action: Set User Expiration Date

Condition: User Expiration Date

Once this condition is selected, use the drop-down menu that will appear below to select whether the expiration date can be one of the following: Is not empty, Is in the future, or Is in the past. Then, press Save Changes.

The User Expiration Date condition cannot be used alone in your automation rule. If this condition is the only one selected, then no action will be triggered. After you have selected this condition, go back to the drop-down menu, select another condition and press Save Changes.

Once added, review the active conditions, and flag that All of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Condition: User Unenrolled from Course

This condition can be triggered when the user either autonomously un-enrols or is un-enrolled (by a Superadmin or Power User) from a course. The notification is sent to third parties users.

Once this condition has been selected, press Save Changes. Once added, review the active conditions, then flag whether all of the above conditions must be satisfied, or if at least one of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Send Enrollment Information

Condition: User Unenrolled from ILT session

This condition can be triggered when the user either autonomously un-enrols or is un-enrolled (by a Superadmin or Power User) from an ILT (Instructor-Led Training) session. The notification is sent to third parties users.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Send Enrollment Information

Condition: The Course Has Been Changed

This condition can be triggered when the course settings or course shell information (course name, description, etc.) has been changed.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Send Course Information

Further information about webhooks.

Condition: Course or Learning Plan Purchased

This condition can be triggered when a user has purchased a course or learning plan.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Send Course/Learning Plan Transaction Details

Condition: Subscription Purchased or Renewed

This condition can be triggered when a user has purchased or renewed a subscription.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Send Subscription Transaction Details

Condition: Content Partner Activated

This condition can be triggered when a Content Partner is activated in the platform, in order to show their courses in the catalogs.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Show all Content Partner Courses in Catalogs

Condition: Content Partner Deactivated

This condition can be triggered when a Content Partner is deactivated in the platform, in order to hide their courses from the catalogs.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled action:

Action: Hide all Content Partner Courses from Catalogs

Condition: The User Has Been Inactive For

This condition can be triggered when a user has been inactive for a defined period of time.

Once this condition is selected, use the Values section below to set the behaviour of the rule, then press Save Changes. Once added, review the active conditions, then flag whether all of the above conditions must be satisfied, or if at least one of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Condition: User Additional Field Value Is

This condition can be triggered when a user has a defined value for a user additional field.

Once this condition is selected, use the Additional Field dropdown menu to add the additional fields to the rule. Once selected, you then need to insert the name of the field into the corresponding text box below. Press Save Changes when finished. Once added, review the active conditions, then flag whether all of the above conditions must be satisfied, or if at least one of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Condition: Admin Uploaded a File into an FTP Folder

This condition can be triggered when a CSV file has been uploaded to an FTP/SFTP site for processing into the platform.

Once this condition is selected, you need to add the Protocol and Parameters before continuing. Flag the FTP or SFTP in the Protocol section, then insert the host, port, username, password, folder, and file name into the corresponding text boxes. The Automation application FTP/SFTP service supports files up to 10 MB in size.

Below the parameters, you can flag the option to enable additional sections, allowing the deletion, renaming or moving of the source in the FTP/SFTP site. If you flag the option to rename a source, insert the new file name into the corresponding text box. If you flag the option to move the source, insert the new destination.

Once you’ve inserted all of the information, press Save Changes. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Condition: The User Belongs to a Group or Branch

This condition can be triggered when a user belongs to a defined group or branch.

Once this condition is selected, press the Select button that will appear below, flag the groups or branches from the pop-up box, and then press Confirm. Press Save Changes. Once added, review the active conditions, then flag whether all of the above conditions must be satisfied, or if at least one of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Condition: Report is Generated

This condition can be triggered when a custom report has been generated by the system. The Report is Generated condition allows you to export a custom report in your platform to an FTP server. This is an ideal automated rule for those with a smaller number of records that need to be exported more frequently.

If you have thousands of records on the platform, this is not an ideal option. It is recommended to export reports with thousands of records manually, as the time it takes for the automated rule to trigger is directly linked to the number of records in the report.

Once this condition is selected, use the dropdown menu below to select a custom report. Then, press Save Changes. Once added, review the active conditions, then flag whether all of the above conditions must be satisfied, or if at least one of the above conditions must be satisfied. Press Next to continue.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Condition: New Report is Generated

This condition can be triggered when a custom report has been generated by the system and applies to the New Reports section of the platform. The New Report is Generated condition allows you to export a custom report in your platform to an FTP server. This is an ideal automated rule for those with a smaller number of records that need to be exported more frequently.

If you have thousands of records on the platform, this is not an ideal option. It is recommended to export reports with thousands of records manually, as the time it takes for the automated rule to trigger is directly linked to the number of records in the report.

Select an action from the Define Action dropdown menu. With this condition, you can use the following unscheduled actions:

Important Notes for the New Report is Generated Condition

Please note that this automated rule can not be scheduled for the hours of 00:00 (midnight) to 07:00 to ensure it does not conflict with the nightly data refresh.
When migrating reports to the New Reports feature, please note that automated reports do not automatically migrate as well. You will need to delete the old schedule and create a new schedule for those reports.

Action: Set User Expiration Date

This action allows you to set the user expiration date for users that meet the criteria from the condition statement. Once this action is selected after defining a condition, select the value for when you would like the expiration date to be set. You may choose to set the expiration date to Yesterday, Today, 7 days from today, or 30 days from today.

When finished, press Save Changes. Then, press Next. From here, you can Save, Activate and Execute the rule, or you can save it and go back to the link of created rules on the main Automation page.

Action: Send Enrollment Information

This action allows you to send a notification to a third party to inform them that a user has self-unenrolled, or has been unenrolled (by a Superadmin or Power User) from a course. In the Endpoint field, select where you want to send the course unenrollment information. Then, flag the authentication type and press Save Changes. Press Next to complete the rule creation process.

The available authentication types are:

No Authentication. The information is sent directly to the selected endpoint. This method is not recommended since it’s not secure.
Username + Password. The message will try to authenticate the endpoint using a username and password.
Oauth2. The message will first call an Oauth2 service to validate the credentials and then will send a secure message to the selected endpoint.

When finished, press Add. Then, press Next. From here, you can Save, Activate and Execute the rule, or you can save it and go back to the link of created rules on the main Automation page.

Action: Send Course Information

This action allows you to send a notification to a third party to inform them that a course’s information has been modified. In the Endpoint field, select where you want to send the course information. Then, flag the authentication type.

The available authentication types are:

No Authentication. The information is sent directly to the selected endpoint. This method is not recommended since it’s not secure.
Username + Password. The message will try to authenticate the endpoint using a username and password.
Oauth2. The message will first call an Oauth2 service to validate the credentials and then will send a secure message to the selected endpoint.

Action: Send Course/Learning Plan Transaction Details

This action allows you to send a notification to a third party to inform them that a course has been purchased via e-commerce. In the Endpoint field, select where you want to send the purchase information. Then, flag the authentication type.

The available authentication types are:

No Authentication. The information is sent directly to the selected endpoint. This method is not recommended since it’s not secure.
Username + Password. The message will try to authenticate the endpoint using a username and password.
Oauth2. The message will first call an Oauth2 service to validate the credentials and then will send a secure message to the selected endpoint.

When finished, press Save Changes. Then, press Next. From here, you can Save, Activate and Execute the rule, or you can save it and go back to the link of created rules on the main Automation page.

Action: Send Subscription Transaction Details

This action allows you to send a notification to a third party to inform them that a subscription has been purchased via e-commerce. In the Endpoint field, select where you want to send the purchase information. Then, flag the authentication type.

The available authentication types are:

No Authentication. The information is sent directly to the selected endpoint. This method is not recommended since it’s not secure.
Username + Password. The message will try to authenticate the endpoint using a username and password.
Oauth2. The message will first call an Oauth2 service to validate the credentials and then will send a secure message to the selected endpoint.

Action: Show all Content Partner Courses in Catalogs

This action can only be selected when the Content Partner Activated condition is set. It shows the courses of a Content Partner in catalogues upon activation. Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes. When finished, press Save Changes.

Then, press Next. From here, you can Save, Activate and Execute the rule, or you can save it and go back to the link of created rules on the main Automation page. Find out more on how to fill out the mapping columns when importing schema.

Action: Hide all Content Partner Courses from Catalogs

This action can only be selected when the Content Partner Deactivated condition is set. It hides the courses of a Content Partner from catalogues upon deactivation. Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes.

Action: Import Users from CSV

This action allows you to import users from a CSV file. Once this action is selected after defining a condition, press the Import Schema button, then press the Add New Column button to add columns. Select a column from the dropdown menu. Repeat this process, as necessary. Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes. Learn how to properly configure the values in your CSV file to ensure a successful mapping to the platform user data fields.

Find out more on the comparison of the fields you can import via Automation or via SAML SSO.

Now, fill in the information regarding the separator, file charset, email address for the error log, and branch options. You can also flag the options to consider the first row as a header, require users to update their passwords at first sign-in, ignore the force password change option for existing users, or auto-assign branches to all Power Users.

As an option, you can flag the Update User Info option so that the imported information will update the data for the users already existing in the platform, configuring how the information of existing users will be updated upon importing the CSV file. When this option is flagged, the imported information for users already existing in the platform will overwrite any existing user information if the user branch remains unchanged. If the branch specified in the CSV file is different from the one currently assigned to users, and your platform has been activated before October 21, 2019, you can decide whether to copy or move the users involved in the update to the newly assigned branch. If your platform has been activated after October 21, 2019, when updating data for existing users, users will be moved by default to the new destination branch, you will not have the option to copy them to different branches. This means that it is not possible for a user to be placed in more than one branch.

Copy users to the branch declared in the CSV file. When users are copied to another branch, they are available in more branches. This section is visible only if your platform was activated before DATE.
Move users to the branch declared in the CSV file. When users are moved from one branch to another, they are no longer available in the source branch; if they are assigned to multiple branches, they will be deleted from all the branches and moved to the new branch.

When selecting the Update Information for existing users, the Destination Fallback Branch option is displayed for the configuration of an “emergency” destination branch to be used when the destination branch field is not mapped in the Preview area, or when it is mapped, but its value is empty. Select whether to:

Do Nothing. When this option is selected, user information will not be updated. If the CSV file includes new users, they will be created in the Docebo root folder. Please note that Docebo is not a branch, and will not be selectable in reports and in other areas of the platform.
Use existing branch. When this option is selected, updated users will remain in the branch they are currently assigned to.

When finished, press Save Changes. Then, press Next. From here, you can Save, Activate and Execute the rule, or you can save it and go back to the link of created rules on the main Automation page.

Please Note: Power users are only imported into the root branch, not into sub-branches.

Action: Import Branches from CSV

This action allows you to import branches from a CSV file. For this CSV file, you will want to populate the following columns:

Column	Type	Notes
Code	Text	Required. Branch code for the branch
Parent	Text	Optional. Branch code of the parent branch
Level	Number	Optional. Indicates how far down in the branch hierarchy this branch resides
[Insert Language]	Text	The remaining columns will be used to define the branch name in each language you wish to support for branches. For instance, you may want a column for English to hold the English translation of the branch name and a column for Italian to hold the Italian translation of the branch name. At least one language column is required.

For a sample CSV file for this import, select the Download sample CSV file link next to the Import Schema button. Once this action is selected after defining a condition, press the Import Schema button, then press the Add New Column button to add columns. Select a column from the dropdown menu. Repeat this process, as necessary.

Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes. Now, fill in the information regarding the separator, file charset, and email address for the error log. You can also flag the options to consider the first row as a header or update the branch title.

A background job is created when this Automation App action is executed.

Action: Import PU Mappings from CSV

This action allows you to create relationships between end-users and Power Users in your platform. Once defined, a background job will be automatically created.

Once this action is selected after defining a condition, press the Import Schema button, then press the Add New Column button to add columns. Select a column from the dropdown menu. Repeat this process, as necessary. Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes.

Now, fill in the information regarding the separator, file charset, and email address for the error log. You can also flag the option to consider the first row as a header.

Action: Import Courses from CSV

This action allows you to import course shells into the platform. Once this action is selected after defining a condition, press the Import Schema button, then press the Add New Column button to add columns. Select a column from the dropdown menu. Repeat this process, as necessary.

Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes. Now, fill in the information regarding the separator, file charset, and email address for the error log. You can also flag the option to consider the first row as a header. The minimum fields required are Course Name, Course Type and Course Description.

Please note that the Import Courses from CSV action is used to create courses and is not intended to update course details.

Action: Export to CSV

This action allows you to export a report to CSV. Once this action is selected after defining a condition, press the Export Schema button. Press the Add New Column button to add columns. Select a column from the dropdown menu, then provide a name for the column in the corresponding text box. Repeat this process, as necessary.

Use the cross icon and X icon in each column’s row to change the order or delete the column. When finished, press Save Changes. Now, fill in the information regarding the separator, file charset, email address for the error log, and protocol information for your FTP server. Enabling the Enforce quotation for any field types option will cause all fields in the CSV file to be encapsulated in quotes.