Event Schedules

An event schedule will run an action when a particular event occurs. Mounting a volume or quitting an application are examples of events that can start an action running. There are eight event schedules to choose from:

archive volume connects runs the action when the volume containing the action's archive is connected (mounts). Use this event to create actions that start automatically as soon as you connect an external or remote volume containing the archive. For example, you can setup an external drive to backup multiple systems, and then have each system start its capture action the moment you connect it to that computer.
capture item volume connects runs the action when a volume containing any of the action's capture items is connected (mounts). Use this action to capture documents on transient devices. For example, you could have QRecall automatically capture your camera's memory card whenever you plug it into your Mac. This event only applies to capture actions.
capture item changes runs the action as soon as a change in any of the captured items is detected. This is useful for actions that capture a specific group of items that change infrequently, but it's important that they be captured in a timely fashion. A good example would be a folder of active projects. This event only applies to capture actions.
user logs in runs the action when you log in.
user logs out runs the action when you log out. This requires that your scheduler is configured to run in the background; see scheduler preferences.
launching application … runs the action when the selected application launches.
quitting application … runs the action when the selected application quits. This event is particularly useful for capturing documents that are difficult to capture reliably while an application is running. Notable examples are mail clients, virtual machine emulators, applications that manipulate a database, and so on.
archive needs repair runs the action when QRecall determines that the archive has been damaged and cannot be automatically repaired (see auto-repair). This event only applies to the Repair action, and its sole use is to create a repair action that runs automatically whenever an archive becomes unusable.

Capture Item Changes limitations Note

The Capture Item Changes event requires that the item's volume support macOS's filesystem change event service. This event may not work on items contained on remote volumes, devices formatted for Windows, and so on.

Also, you should not use this event to capture items which change frequently, like your home folder. You home folder contains your account cache and preferences files, which change all the time, causing the action to run incessantly. For large folders or volumes that change regularly, use a time schedule.

Finally the number of folders that can be monitored for changes is limited by macOS. So keep the total number of capture items being monitored for changes (in all actions) to a reasonable number, certainly less than a dozen.

Delay

The action can wait for a short period of time, following the event, before starting. Enter a value of 0 to run the action without any delay.

Ignore New Events

The ignore option will ignore similar events that occur after the event that ran the action. To prevent new events from running the action again too quickly, choose the Ignore new events for option and choose a time period. The next event that occurs after the ignore period will run the action again.

For example, the Capture item volume connects schedule can capture a portable drive the minute it is plugged in. If you set the Ignore new events for period to 1 hour, the action won't run again if the drive is disconnected and then reconnected 10 minutes later. If it's disconnected and reconnected three hours later, the action runs again.

Repeat Action

If a repeat interval is set, the action will repeat again at regular intervals as long as the condition that caused the event persists.

For example, take an Archive Volume Connects schedule that is set to repeat at 6 hour intervals. The action runs when the volume containing the archive is connected. If that volume remains connected for 6 hours, the action will run again, and will continue to run every 6 hours until the volume is ejected.