Postpone Transaction

Postpone Transaction

Type: queue-postpone-transaction  ·  Package: Queue Activities v1.2.9

Defers an item you’re processing: it moves it from in_progress back to new and sets a moment from which it can be handed out again. Unlike a failure, it doesn’t count as an attempt (it subtracts one from the Attempts counter), so it doesn’t use up retries.

It’s for when the item can’t be processed now, but can later: a system under maintenance, a document that isn’t available yet, a time window. Instead of failing, you postpone it and another bot (or the same one) will pick it up later.

How it works

1. Checks that the item is in_progress and locked by this execution.
2. Moves it to new, releases the lock, stores deferUntil and subtracts one attempt.
3. No performer receives it before deferUntil; after that it’s handed out again according to its priority.

Required parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
item	ZoanQueueItem	—	The item returned by Get Queue Item (or a dictionary with its id).
deferUntil	string	—	ISO 8601 date and time in UTC (with Z) from which the item can be handed out again. E.g.: utcNow().AddHours(1).ToString("o").

Optional parameters

None.

Output

This activity does not return a value.

Common errors

Message	Cause and fix
'item' is required. / 'deferUntil' is required.	A required parameter is missing.
'item' must be a ZoanQueueItem or an object with an 'id' field.	item isn’t the queue item. Pass the output of Get Queue Item.
… HTTP 422: …	deferUntil isn’t an ISO 8601 date in UTC (for example, it has a -05:00 offset or the local format). Use utcNow()…ToString("o").
… HTTP 400: …Cannot postpone an item in status '…'	The item is no longer in_progress (it was already closed or postponed).
… HTTP 400: …This item is not locked by your execution	Another execution holds the item (for example, because the lock expired and another robot took it).
… HTTP 404: …Queue item not found	The item doesn’t exist in the environment.

Zoan Cloud errors arrive with the prefix “Could not postpone the item: ”.

Example

If the supplier portal is under maintenance, defer the item by one hour:

If   condition = portalUnderMaintenance
  └─ then:
       Postpone Transaction
         item = item
         deferUntil = utcNow().AddHours(1).ToString("o")

It doesn’t count the attempt

Since deferring does not use up a retry, avoid deferring in a loop on the same permanent condition (you’d end up re-enqueuing forever). Use it for bounded waits; for definitive errors use Set Transaction Status with failed.

Related activities

• Get Queue Item — take the item.
• Set Transaction Status — close the item as success or failure.