How to create a Two-State PowerShell Script Monitor using the Authoring Console (Part 2)

Part 2: Data SourceWhat do we need a data source for?

The data source we create will be needed in out monitor type (which will be explained in Part 3 of this series). So far we only defined a module which is returning a property bag with our state information and a wrapped up module we use for a (diagnostic-)task later on. In the latter case, the trigger for our module will be the operator launching the task. For our monitor we need a scheduler to trigger our probe – so for this we will create a simple data source.

Creating the Data Source

 Change to the Data Sources node and right-click to create a New->Composite Data Source…
The ID will be: code4ward.Sample.PowerShellMonitor.DataSource.CheckFileContent
Name will be: Check File Content Data Source

Now change to the Member Modules tab and click on Add…
Look for the System.Scheduler, select it and give it an ID like:Scheduler
Remember, the ID we choose here needs only to be unique within the Member Modules scope, it doesn’t need to be unique for the whole MP. Therefore you can also choose the ID Scheduler for another data source in this MP.
Hit OK.

We will configure this module that all the configuration will be passed on from its consumer. You can use the fly-out button and select Promote… to fill in the appropriate $Config values.

Now let’s add another module, our Check File Content Probe we created in the first part. We ID it Probe

The configuration of our Check File Content probe is also straight forward. All parameters (except the last one) will be populated by its consumer. The last parameter will be set to false. We know that the module in this data source will never be used with the additional information we provide when we execute it as task.

Before we move on to the next tab, we need to define the order our modules are executed:
The Scheduler is our first module, which is basically triggering the workflow. So, in the Next Module column we set Probe as our next module to be executed.
the Probe module will provide the Module Output

In the Configuration Schema tab we need to verify (again) that all the data types are set accordingly. The authoring console tends to always use String as type, so we need to correct them to set Intervalto Integer and Debug to Boolean.

Also keep in mind that optional parameters will not be shown here by default. In case you have modules with optional parameters you need to add them explicitly. It is also important the the order of the parameters are correct!

In our case we do not have and use any optional parameters, so nothing to do for us here. But if we would have defined an optional boolean parameter named “Bob” in our CheckFileContent probe after the ErrorText and we want to use it, we must add this parameter manually to this list right after the ErrorText parameter and set it to boolean. The arrows next to the list allows to reorder the list.

In the Overridable Parameters tab we add all our parameters to the list.

As mentioned in Part 1, if you want to seal you MP and want others to use this data source in their own MP you need to mark this data source Public in the Options tab.