The event-based Notification feature in QuerySurge allow users to create custom email notifications that are automatically generated when certain criteria are met. Notifications are highly customizable, and can be configured to apply to a wide range of situations. Project Notifications are managed by Project Administrators on a per-project basis.
Note: Email server settings must be configured before Notification emails can be successfully sent.
In this section
- Viewing Notifications
- Creating a Notification
- Events and Event Filtering
- Creating an Email Template
- Adding Users, Roles, and CCs
Viewing Notifications
Notifications are available in the Administration view, by navigating to the Email Notifications folder in the Administration Tree. There are three grids that display Notifications.
- Project Notifications
- By User
- By Role
The Project Notifications grid provides a list of all Notifications that have been created. By default, these are sorted by Notification Name; however, they can be filtered or sorted by any column. You can Add, Edit, Copy, or Remove a Notification using the action buttons on the bottom of the grid. Additionally, you can enable or disable a Notification using the toggle button in the Enabled column of each grid row.
The Notifications By User grid provides a list of Notifications and the Users that have been specified to receive them. This is especially helpful when filtering specific users to identify the Notifications they are receiving. You can modify a Notification from this grid, but adding, copying, removing, and enabling or disabling must be done from the Project Notifications grid.
The Notifications By Role grid is similar to the By User grid. It provides a list of Notifications and the Roles that have been specified to receive them. Again, you can modify a Notification from this grid, but all other actions must be taken from the Project Notifications grid.
Note: These three grids, like all administrative functions, are only available to Project Administrators.
Creating a Notification
To create a new Notification, click the Add button in the Project Notifications grid. This will launch the Notification Details modal, where you can enter the details of your Notification.
All of your Notifications require a unique Name, and optionally, a Description. Beyond that, the modal is logically divided into three sections.
- Event and Event Filter
- Recipients
Let's dive a little deeper into each of the three modal sections outlined above.
Events and Event Filtering
When creating a Notification, you need to select an Event.
- Scenario Started
- Scenario Ended
This serves as the trigger for the Notification. When this Event occurs within QuerySurge, an email will be generated and sent (provided any associated Event Filter conditions are met).
Event Filtering
In addition to the Event trigger, you can add more granular Event Filters that need to be met in order to spawn the generation and sending of your email. These filters allow for a comparison to be made on chosen Data Fields.
Data Fields available for filtering (and as you'll see later, for inclusion in your email template) are dependent on the selected Event. For the Scenario Started event, the following fields are available for use.
- Scenario Name
- Owner
- Start Time
- Number of QueryPairs
And for the Scenario Ended event, the following fields are available for use.
- Scenario Name
- Owner
- Start Time
- End Time
- Number of QueryPairs
- Outcome
- Duration
- Pass Rate
- QueryPairs Passed
- QueryPairs Failed
- QueryPair Errors
- QueryPairs Killed
- QueryPair Warnings
- Detail Results Info (Scenario Detail Report)
To add an Event Filter, click the the green plus button. To remove a filter, click the red minus button. When filling in the corresponding cell values, the supported Comparison Types and Values will depend on the selected Data Field.
As demonstrated above, you can add multiple filters. Notifications operate on an all-or-none paradigm, meaning that each added filter condition must be met in order to trigger an email to be sent. In this case, the Owner must be admin and the Pass Rate must be less than 90% for this Notification to be sent.
Note: If you choose Scenario Ended, it'll apply only to Scenarios that have properly completed. To clarify, this does not include Scenarios that are killed. This, of course, ends the execution, but does not result in a normally concluded Scenario. Therefore, if a Scenario is killed, a Scenario Ended event is not fired and no email is generated or sent.
Creating an Email Template
The Email section provides an editor that allows you to build a custom email template, with the ability to insert application-specific data determined at the time the email is generated and sent.
You'll need to enter a Subject, as well as craft the Body of your email. There are a number of built-in formatting options available, or you can modify the structure and content directly using the HTML button.
You can also add placeholder fields that will be populated with application data when the Notification is triggered. Select the green plus button to select from a menu of placeholders applicable to your Event.
Note: Placeholders can be used in the Subject, as well. Type the desired placeholder using the same format generated in the Body by the dropdown menu (i.e., ${Data Field Name}).
Adding Users, Roles, and CCs
Lastly, the Recipients section of the modal allows you to choose who should receive the Notification when it is sent. You can add specific users by name, groups of users by role, as well as external email addresses (to be added to the CC field in the email).
To add a User or a Role (which will include all Users who have this Role) to the grid, select the green plus button. Likewise, use the red minus button to remove an entry.
To add an external email address to be copied on the email, type the email address into the box and press Enter. You can use this field to copy stakeholders who are not formal QuerySurge users.
It's important to verify that email addresses have been correctly entered for each added User (or group of Users by Role). With the exception of the added CCs, email addresses for Notifications are obtained from User details.