Scheduling a job by time, file arrival, or table update

Lakeflow Jobs (formerly Databricks Workflows) can run on a fixed schedule or be triggered automatically by external events, removing the need for manual runs or custom polling logic. Trigger types include scheduled (cron-based), file arrival (new files land in a storage location), and table update (changes to a Delta table), each configured on the job's trigger settings.

Must-know

• Scheduled triggers use a cron syntax with a selectable timezone, and jobs can also be run manually or via the REST API regardless of the configured trigger.
• File arrival triggers watch a storage location (e.g., a Unity Catalog volume or cloud object storage path) and start a run when new files are detected, using efficient event-based detection rather than constant polling.
• File arrival triggers have a minimum time between runs setting (e.g., not more than once every N minutes) to batch multiple file arrivals into a single job run and avoid excessive triggering.
• Table update triggers fire a job run when a specified Delta table (or tables) changes, useful for chaining downstream jobs to upstream data refreshes without a fixed schedule.
• Only one trigger type can be actively configured per job at a time, though the job can still be run manually or via API independent of that trigger.
• If a job is already running when a new trigger event occurs, Lakeflow Jobs queues or skips the run based on the job's concurrency/queuing settings rather than always starting a new run immediately.

Coverage checked against the published exam guide on Jul 26, 2026.

These are independent practice questions, written against this certification's published exam guide. They are not the certification vendor's own questions, and not the real exam.