.. _35-globals:

Globals
=======

Globals must be specified at the beginning of the configuration file. The supported global entries
are the following:

.. list-table::
   :header-rows: 1

   * - Option
     - Default
     - Description
   * - ``scheduler_tick_seconds``
     - 5
     - Number of seconds between scheduler ticks
   * - ``randomize_checks_within_ticks``
     - *false*
     - Whether or not condition checks should be uniformly randomized within the tick period


Both parameters can be omitted, in which case the default values are used: 5 seconds might seem a
very short value for the tick period, but in fact it mimics a certain responsiveness and
synchronization in checking *event* based conditions. Note that conditions strictly depending on
time do not comply to the request of randomizing the check instant.

.. note::
   These values can *not* be updated at runtime: possible changes of global parameters in the
   configuration file are only applied when the application is restarted.

No other global entries than the ones described above are accepted by **whenever**: in case an
unknown entry is found, the application will exit with an error. As in *items*, a ``[[tags]]``
section is accepted, which can either be an array or a table whose entries and/or values are not
checked: this section can be used by a *wrapper* in order to define global parameters that will not
interfere with the actual configuration.