Creating Azure Timer Trigger Function using VScode

Pre-requisite: Azure, Azure Functions

Azure Timer Trigger Functions are a type of Azure Function that runs on a pre-defined schedule. This schedule is defined using a CRON expression, which is a string that specifies when the function should be executed. For example, a CRON expression of “0 0 * * * *” would cause the function to run every hour on the hour. Azure timer trigger functions are commonly used for tasks that need to be performed on a regular schedule, such as sending out reminders or cleaning up old data.

Before getting started, make sure you have the following installed:

• An Azure account
• The Azure Functions extension for VSCode
• The Azure Functions Core Tools

Steps to Create Azure Timer Trigger Function

Step 1: Create a new Azure Functions Project

To create a new Azure Functions project in VSCode, open the command palette and type in “Azure Functions: Create New Project”. This will open up a wizard that will guide you through the process of creating a new project.

Select an empty folder in which you want to create the project. 

Step 2: Select a language. We will Select Python language for this article to implement the time trigger function. You can choose any language of your choice.

Step 3: Select an Interpreter for the Project

Step 4: Select the Timer Trigger template for your project.

Step 5: Give an appropriate name to the timer trigger function. In my case, the name is “Demo-timer-trigger”

Step 6: Enter a CRON expression in order to specify the schedule.

This is the configuration step for your timer trigger function. The configuration is done using a CRON expression, which specifies the schedule on which the function should be triggered.

In Azure, timer trigger functions use a CRON expression to specify when they should run. A CRON expression is a string that consists of six or seven fields separated by whitespace. These fields represent a time schedule, with each field representing a different part of the schedule.

* * * * * *
| | | | | |
| | | | | +--- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday to Saturday)
| | | | +----- month (1 - 12)
| | | +------- day of month (1 - 31)
| | +--------- hour (0 - 23)
| +----------- minute (0 - 59)
+------------- second (0 - 59)

Step 7: Select the “Add to workspace” option.

Once you follow these steps you will get the default timer trigger template created along with the required files.

Step 8: In order to run the default timer trigger function press the F5 key or go to the Run option and press “Start Debugging“.

Step 9: A prompt will pop up asking “Select Storage Account“. 

Select the storage account if you have any else you have to create one storage account. Follow this blog to create a new storage account on the Azure Platform. 

After selecting an appropriate storage account, the function will start running and should give the output below:

Once you have written the function code, you can deploy it to Azure by right-clicking on the project in the Explorer pane and selecting “Deploy to Function App”. This will open up a wizard that will guide you through the process of creating a new Function App in Azure and deploying your function to it.