Make Scheduler Time Zone Aware

[rdoptis]

In larger organizations or organizations with global coverage, it is possible for users to be in different time zones from each other and the Alteryx server. 

WIth our implementation of Alteryx server, we have the server time zone set to that of our data warehouse, but this time zone is different than my own by -2 hours. In the case of scheduling a workflow in the future, I normally correct for this by setting the scheule in the time zone of the server and things work alright. 

Problem 1:

It falls apart is when I want to schedule something in the future, but it is within the timespan between my time zone and the server time zone. For example: It is 6PM my time, and 4PM server time. I want to schedule a workflow to run at 5PM server time (7PM my time). When I try to set this up with the Version 10 scheduler built into Alteryx desktop, it overides the date field upon saving to run the following day instead of today as it thinks im trying to schedule the run at a time that has already passed (which it has in my timezone, but not in the server time zone). Upon trying to edit this schedule to reset the date to today, it again reverts upon saving.  

The only way I have found to get around this is to reset the time zone of my computer to match the server time zone, then set the schedule, then reset the time zone of my machine back to local time again. This is not the best experience, and will likely be required more frequently for users as their time zone difference increases. 

Problem 2:

When wanting to run something server side immediately (I do this in cases where the runtime will be long, or im mobile and on a machine with a lower amount of processing resources) the "Once" option can be used in scheduler to push something to server and run it. In my case, due to the timezone difference, the default time set when trying to do this is the current time in my time zone, but 2 hours ahead of the current server time.

I have two proposed resolutions:

1) Transmit Server time zone information to the local scheduler to have everything involving scheduling in Server time. Also for any timestamp fields, include the time zone designation so its clear to the user.

2) Use information from the user's machine and information from the server to do timezone conversions behind the scenes so whenever scheduling or viewing schedules, all timestamps are in local time to the user. I feel this is the prefered solution for the best user experience, but would also be the more complex to implement. 

Thanks,

Ryan

[KoryC]

Hey Ryan,

Thank you for the feedback! We are looking at improvements to our scheduler functionality, and better management of displayed time is definitely on that list. As we get to this, we'll be looking at going towards an option inline with your proposed solution #2, barring any unforeseen major complications or reasons not to.

[RonL]

Adding some indication of the server timezone would be tremendously useful. 

[gnans19]

We have Alteryx server located in different time zone (EST) and I am trying to schedule a workflow from gallery and getting this error. Ideally gallery should show server time right? My users are not aware of where the server is located. It's 8:58AM and I am trying to schedule to run once at 9:00AM.

[JulieM]

Hi @gnans19 - Thank you for this post.  You are correct that the Gallery displays the local time for users and in the case where the Server is located in a different time zone this is can be a point of confusion.  This is something we hope to address as a future improvement in order to gracefully handle time zones with scheduling.  We hope any other users who are running into this will star this post to vote it up as well.  Thank you for your feedback and feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions!

[levonbjohnson]

Adding functionality to the workflow scheduler on a server to allow the user to specify a time zone in conjunction with the date/time they input. Currently, it just uses the time zone of the location of the server. This can prove difficult for users who are in a different time zone from their server or who may not know what time zone their server is on. It seems like it would be simple to add a time zone drop-down menu that the scheduler would then be able to automatically adjust in the background to match the time zone of the server.

[MarqueeCrew]

Run this workflow at 12:00 PM.

Do you mean 12:00 in Geneva or 12:00 in Michigan?  

Michigan of course!  I'm not in Geneva.

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When the server isn't in the same timezone, confusion exists on what time is being discussed.  It would be nice to automate the conversion of times to local.

Cheers,

Mark

[patrick_digan]

Agree

[SeanAdams]

I agree with the intention @MarqueeCrew - however given that we exist in multiple geographies I'd prefer if we make it easier by asking for the timezone of the schedule (and only auto-convert at the time of execution of the schedule).

This will really help when daylight saving changes in different regions at different times of the year, so if the time-zone is only interpreted when executing the schedule this will be robust.

[JulieM]

Thanks for posting this to the ideas board @MarqueeCrew!  I agree that the Server should handle scheduling in different time zones in a more graceful manner and at the very least make it clear to the end user which time zone the Server is located and running schedules in.  We are hoping to have this included as a future improvement to scheduling on the Server in a future release but please keep the feedback coming!

[rdoptis]

A post from 2015 with the same general idea could use some stars as well: 

https://community.alteryx.com/t5/Alteryx-Product-Ideas/Make-Scheduler-Time-Zone-Aware/idc-p/17065#M2...