Cron patterns originated from the unix-based "cron" (from "chronological") utility. Although the patterns may at first appear arcane, they are in fact simple, powerful, and elegant ways of defining a large set of time-based events.

Cron patterns in Mango are implemented by Quartz, a Java-based scheduling library. More information on the definition of cron patterns can be found here:

CronTriggers Tutorial

CronTriggers Generator

Example configuration: 1 */15 * * * ? = At second :01, every 15 minutes starting at minute :00, of every hour