Boundary Timer fires every 10 seconds rather than at expected cycle

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tone

I have a workflow which has a “Boundary Timer Event” on a “User Task”.  The Boundary Timer Event is used for escalation and is configured with a Time Cycle [R/2015-10-01T11:00:00/PT24H] which starts on a date calculated by the workflow and should then repeat every 24 hours.  The workflow Boundary Timer fires at the scheduled time but doesn’t fire at the expected cycle.  The timer fires correctly the first three times, but it then stops firing at the expected 24 hour interval and starts firing at a 10 second interval.  This of course is an issue for the workflow because when the timer fires the workflow starts an escalation subprocess which should send emails on a 24 hour cycle rather that a 10 second cycle.

I created a sample workflow to illustrate and reproduce the problem.   The sample workflow has a Boundary Timer Event on a User Task which should repeatedly fire every 5 minutes.  However, after the 3rd time the timer fires, the timer starts firing at 10 second intervals rather than the expected 5 minute interval.  The Time Cycle in the sample workflow is of the following format: R/2015-10-01T12:00:00/PT5M

Below is the XML for the sample workflow.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<definitions xmlns="http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/20100524/MODEL" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:activiti="http://activiti.org/bpmn" xmlns:bpmndi="http://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/20100524/DI" xmlns:omgdc="http://www.omg.org/spec/DD/20100524/DC" xmlns:omgdi="http://www.omg.org/spec/DD/20100524/DI" typeLanguage="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" expressionLanguage="http://www.w3.org/1999/XPath" targetNamespace="http://www.activiti.org/processdef">
  <process id="testTimerErrors" name="Test Timer Errors" isExecutable="true">
    <startEvent id="sid-F868E99C-FC2C-4F43-93E0-60327AF519B5">
      <extensionElements>
        <activiti:formProperty id="timerString" name="Timer String (i.e. R/2015-10-01T11:00:00/PT5M)" type="string" required="true"></activiti:formProperty>
      </extensionElements>
    </startEvent>
    <subProcess id="sid-4D5C7417-4A65-4DFB-A676-6FE99138B8F8" name="Sample Escalation">
      <startEvent id="sid-65AF1F00-7F44-4CC3-98EC-BD54594E1CC2"></startEvent>
      <serviceTask id="sid-466108A5-0461-4BF8-8861-A3ABF7521FCB" name="Get Email Recipient (db)" activiti:expression="${todoTask.execute('get email recipient')}"></serviceTask>
      <serviceTask id="sid-844D544A-8ACF-43B4-8254-789765EC778D" name="Send urgent email to fix error" activiti:type="mail">
        <extensionElements>
          <activiti:field name="to">
            <activiti:expression><![CDATA[${sagentErrorInfo.getEscalationEmail().getToRecipiant()}]]></activiti:expression>
          </activiti:field>
          <activiti:field name="from">
            <activiti:string><![CDATA[activiti-workflow.dsservices.com]]></activiti:string>
          </activiti:field>
          <activiti:field name="subject">
            <activiti:expression><![CDATA[${sagentErrorInfo.getEscalationEmail().getSubject()}]]></activiti:expression>
          </activiti:field>
          <activiti:field name="cc">
            <activiti:expression><![CDATA[${sagentErrorInfo.getEscalationEmail().getCcRecipiant()}]]></activiti:expression>
          </activiti:field>
          <activiti:field name="html">
            <activiti:expression><![CDATA[${sagentErrorInfo.getEscalationEmail().getContent()}]]></activiti:expression>
          </activiti:field>
          <activiti:executionListener event="start" expression="${prepareEmailTaskListener.createEmail (sagentErrorInfo)}"></activiti:executionListener>
        </extensionElements>
      </serviceTask>
      <endEvent id="sid-E94E1E25-F095-4123-9145-22F3069CCC97"></endEvent>
      <exclusiveGateway id="sid-248E480D-9E80-462A-BF51-61161846F7EF"></exclusiveGateway>
      <exclusiveGateway id="sid-220FBE6D-2AAD-45AE-A0DF-F286D9448311"></exclusiveGateway>
      <scriptTask id="sid-CE6E10C5-165E-41D0-99F6-163A6C7148A5" name="Sample Script Task" activiti:async="true" scriptFormat="groovy" activiti:autoStoreVariables="false">
        <script>System.out.println(" Trying to escalate at "+new Date().toString());
sendEmail=false;
execution.setVariable("sendEmail",sendEmail);</script>
      </scriptTask>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-AEB38E9B-2527-4562-A293-F209800C50AB" sourceRef="sid-65AF1F00-7F44-4CC3-98EC-BD54594E1CC2" targetRef="sid-CE6E10C5-165E-41D0-99F6-163A6C7148A5"></sequenceFlow>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-C58D6B2C-540A-4427-B1D9-1AC3872184C9" sourceRef="sid-466108A5-0461-4BF8-8861-A3ABF7521FCB" targetRef="sid-844D544A-8ACF-43B4-8254-789765EC778D"></sequenceFlow>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-86582FF4-9A9C-4978-A397-70C95DE5A407" sourceRef="sid-844D544A-8ACF-43B4-8254-789765EC778D" targetRef="sid-248E480D-9E80-462A-BF51-61161846F7EF"></sequenceFlow>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-77108025-BCB8-43A6-BC43-61CF643EF0A8" sourceRef="sid-248E480D-9E80-462A-BF51-61161846F7EF" targetRef="sid-E94E1E25-F095-4123-9145-22F3069CCC97"></sequenceFlow>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-77599734-296B-4FAB-9C02-25B7550E3D5D" sourceRef="sid-CE6E10C5-165E-41D0-99F6-163A6C7148A5" targetRef="sid-220FBE6D-2AAD-45AE-A0DF-F286D9448311"></sequenceFlow>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-ABF45B91-28B1-4368-A988-4BF84ED31AFC" name="don't send email" sourceRef="sid-220FBE6D-2AAD-45AE-A0DF-F286D9448311" targetRef="sid-248E480D-9E80-462A-BF51-61161846F7EF">
        <conditionExpression xsi:type="tFormalExpression"><![CDATA[${sendEmail==false}]]></conditionExpression>
      </sequenceFlow>
      <sequenceFlow id="sid-405FD919-0059-4A90-B50C-4D0E1A614CB8" name="send email" sourceRef="sid-220FBE6D-2AAD-45AE-A0DF-F286D9448311" targetRef="sid-466108A5-0461-4BF8-8861-A3ABF7521FCB">
        <conditionExpression xsi:type="tFormalExpression"><![CDATA[${sendEmail==true}]]></conditionExpression>
      </sequenceFlow>
    </subProcess>
    <userTask id="sid-CD0EE5B8-B07D-4A23-9058-EBF38C615694" name="Sample User Task">
      <extensionElements>
        <activiti:formProperty id="address1" name="Address Line 1" type="string" required="true"></activiti:formProperty>
        <activiti:formProperty id="enumProperty" name="Sample Enum Property" type="enum" required="true">
          <activiti:value id="value 1" name="value 1"></activiti:value>
          <activiti:value id="value 2" name="value 2"></activiti:value>
        </activiti:formProperty>
        <activiti:formProperty id="stringProperty" name="String Property" type="string" required="true"></activiti:formProperty>
        <activiti:formProperty id="longProperty" name="Long Property" type="long" required="true"></activiti:formProperty>
        <activiti:formProperty id="booleanProperty" name="Boolean Property" type="boolean" required="true"></activiti:formProperty>
        <activiti:formProperty id="dateProperty" name="Date Property" type="date" datePattern="MM-dd-yyyy hh:mm" required="true"></activiti:formProperty>
      </extensionElements>
    </userTask>
    <endEvent id="sid-6168FE97-63EF-4272-9A13-B6F292D2A870"></endEvent>
    <sequenceFlow id="sid-81638E56-5E25-4148-A3A2-8F8B298BC721" sourceRef="sid-32030820-F341-4D85-BD71-58714C78750F" targetRef="sid-4D5C7417-4A65-4DFB-A676-6FE99138B8F8"></sequenceFlow>
    <boundaryEvent id="sid-32030820-F341-4D85-BD71-58714C78750F" attachedToRef="sid-CD0EE5B8-B07D-4A23-9058-EBF38C615694" cancelActivity="false">
      <timerEventDefinition>
        <timeCycle>${timerString}</timeCycle>
      </timerEventDefinition>
    </boundaryEvent>
    <sequenceFlow id="sid-87596D1E-9A7B-47A6-A4D9-03ECA06ABEDE" sourceRef="sid-CD0EE5B8-B07D-4A23-9058-EBF38C615694" targetRef="sid-6168FE97-63EF-4272-9A13-B6F292D2A870"></sequenceFlow>
    <scriptTask id="init-sample-1" name="Initialize Sample" activiti:async="true" scriptFormat="groovy" activiti:autoStoreVariables="false">
      <script>testStartTime=new Date().toString();
timerStartTime = (String) execution.getVariable("timerString");
System.out.println("""


*** Starting Timer Test Instance on ${testStartTime} with timerString=${timerStartTime}

""");</script>
    </scriptTask>
    <sequenceFlow id="sid-C920660F-08B8-4728-89A7-D5BDC3087DA8" sourceRef="sid-F868E99C-FC2C-4F43-93E0-60327AF519B5" targetRef="init-sample-1"></sequenceFlow>
    <sequenceFlow id="sid-C414D079-7EA2-49A8-BEA8-C56BA6E1297D" sourceRef="init-sample-1" targetRef="sid-CD0EE5B8-B07D-4A23-9058-EBF38C615694"></sequenceFlow>
  </process>
  <bpmndi:BPMNDiagram id="BPMNDiagram_testTimerErrors">
    <bpmndi:BPMNPlane bpmnElement="testTimerErrors" id="BPMNPlane_testTimerErrors">
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-F868E99C-FC2C-4F43-93E0-60327AF519B5" id="BPMNShape_sid-F868E99C-FC2C-4F43-93E0-60327AF519B5">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="30.0" width="30.0" x="45.0" y="325.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-4D5C7417-4A65-4DFB-A676-6FE99138B8F8" id="BPMNShape_sid-4D5C7417-4A65-4DFB-A676-6FE99138B8F8">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="206.0" width="1079.0" x="30.0" y="435.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-65AF1F00-7F44-4CC3-98EC-BD54594E1CC2" id="BPMNShape_sid-65AF1F00-7F44-4CC3-98EC-BD54594E1CC2">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="30.0" width="30.0" x="46.0" y="509.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-466108A5-0461-4BF8-8861-A3ABF7521FCB" id="BPMNShape_sid-466108A5-0461-4BF8-8861-A3ABF7521FCB">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="80.0" width="100.0" x="699.0" y="484.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-844D544A-8ACF-43B4-8254-789765EC778D" id="BPMNShape_sid-844D544A-8ACF-43B4-8254-789765EC778D">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="80.0" width="100.0" x="841.0" y="484.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-E94E1E25-F095-4123-9145-22F3069CCC97" id="BPMNShape_sid-E94E1E25-F095-4123-9145-22F3069CCC97">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="28.0" width="28.0" x="1051.0" y="591.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-248E480D-9E80-462A-BF51-61161846F7EF" id="BPMNShape_sid-248E480D-9E80-462A-BF51-61161846F7EF">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="40.0" width="40.0" x="961.0" y="585.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-220FBE6D-2AAD-45AE-A0DF-F286D9448311" id="BPMNShape_sid-220FBE6D-2AAD-45AE-A0DF-F286D9448311">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="40.0" width="40.0" x="556.0" y="504.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-CE6E10C5-165E-41D0-99F6-163A6C7148A5" id="BPMNShape_sid-CE6E10C5-165E-41D0-99F6-163A6C7148A5">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="80.0" width="100.0" x="115.125" y="484.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-CD0EE5B8-B07D-4A23-9058-EBF38C615694" id="BPMNShape_sid-CD0EE5B8-B07D-4A23-9058-EBF38C615694">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="80.0" width="100.0" x="285.0" y="300.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-6168FE97-63EF-4272-9A13-B6F292D2A870" id="BPMNShape_sid-6168FE97-63EF-4272-9A13-B6F292D2A870">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="28.0" width="28.0" x="614.5" y="326.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="sid-32030820-F341-4D85-BD71-58714C78750F" id="BPMNShape_sid-32030820-F341-4D85-BD71-58714C78750F">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="31.0" width="31.0" x="280.38628717589336" y="364.69915281930315"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNShape bpmnElement="init-sample-1" id="BPMNShape_init-sample-1">
        <omgdc:Bounds height="80.0" width="100.0" x="135.0" y="300.0"></omgdc:Bounds>
      </bpmndi:BPMNShape>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-86582FF4-9A9C-4978-A397-70C95DE5A407" id="BPMNEdge_sid-86582FF4-9A9C-4978-A397-70C95DE5A407">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="941.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="981.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="981.0" y="585.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-C58D6B2C-540A-4427-B1D9-1AC3872184C9" id="BPMNEdge_sid-C58D6B2C-540A-4427-B1D9-1AC3872184C9">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="799.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="841.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-405FD919-0059-4A90-B50C-4D0E1A614CB8" id="BPMNEdge_sid-405FD919-0059-4A90-B50C-4D0E1A614CB8">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="596.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="699.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-81638E56-5E25-4148-A3A2-8F8B298BC721" id="BPMNEdge_sid-81638E56-5E25-4148-A3A2-8F8B298BC721">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="309.3132940344577" y="387.94289137506973"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="390.90645678149184" y="435.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-77599734-296B-4FAB-9C02-25B7550E3D5D" id="BPMNEdge_sid-77599734-296B-4FAB-9C02-25B7550E3D5D">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="215.125" y="524.0607718018839"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="556.4756616975966" y="524.4756616975966"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-77108025-BCB8-43A6-BC43-61CF643EF0A8" id="BPMNEdge_sid-77108025-BCB8-43A6-BC43-61CF643EF0A8">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="1001.0" y="605.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="1051.0" y="605.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-ABF45B91-28B1-4368-A988-4BF84ED31AFC" id="BPMNEdge_sid-ABF45B91-28B1-4368-A988-4BF84ED31AFC">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="576.0" y="544.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="576.0" y="605.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="961.0" y="605.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-AEB38E9B-2527-4562-A293-F209800C50AB" id="BPMNEdge_sid-AEB38E9B-2527-4562-A293-F209800C50AB">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="76.0" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="115.125" y="524.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-C414D079-7EA2-49A8-BEA8-C56BA6E1297D" id="BPMNEdge_sid-C414D079-7EA2-49A8-BEA8-C56BA6E1297D">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="235.0" y="340.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="285.0" y="340.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-87596D1E-9A7B-47A6-A4D9-03ECA06ABEDE" id="BPMNEdge_sid-87596D1E-9A7B-47A6-A4D9-03ECA06ABEDE">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="385.0" y="340.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="614.5" y="340.0"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
      <bpmndi:BPMNEdge bpmnElement="sid-C920660F-08B8-4728-89A7-D5BDC3087DA8" id="BPMNEdge_sid-C920660F-08B8-4728-89A7-D5BDC3087DA8">
        <omgdi:waypoint x="74.9975858124004" y="340.2691092709031"></omgdi:waypoint>
        <omgdi:waypoint x="135.0" y="341.3457629494638"></omgdi:waypoint>
      </bpmndi:BPMNEdge>
    </bpmndi:BPMNPlane>
  </bpmndi:BPMNDiagram>
</definitions>
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tone

This timer problem is occurring with activiti version 5.18.0.