8. Find Sequences Where an Event Does Not Occur

Negation lets you find sequences (a series of actions) where a specified event must not occur after the required actions.

4 min readProduct documentationzinzu user guide

For example, find a payment failure that was not followed by a successful payment within the checked window.

Negation is an Is Negation setting on a User Defined Event.

Build the Query

Drag the required events onto the canvas and connect them in order.
Add the event that must not occur as the final event, connected directly to End.
Right-click that final event and turn on Is Negation.
Place Any immediately before the negated event to check across subsequent activity.

Example:

Start → Payment Failed → Any → Payment Succeeded (Is Negation ON) → End

The behavior depends on whether Any appears immediately before the negated event.

With Any: Check across subsequent activity

Payment Failed → Any → Payment Succeeded (negated) → End

After Payment Failed matches, zinzu checks subsequent records for the same EventOwner:

If Payment Succeeded occurs within the observation window, the sequence is incomplete.
If the queried records for that EventOwner end without Payment Succeeded, the sequence completes.
If the sequence record limit is reached first without Payment Succeeded, it closes with COMPLETED_LIMIT_REACHED.

Other activity can occur during this check. If there are no records after Payment Failed, the sequence also completes.

Without Any: Check only the next record

Payment Failed → Payment Succeeded (negated) → End

After Payment Failed matches, zinzu checks only the next record:

A successful payment occurring later does not change that completed sequence.

If there is no next record, the sequence remains incomplete unless the preceding required event has already reached the sequence record limit.

Use Any when your question is “Did this event remain absent across subsequent activity?”

Query:

Start → Payment Failed → Any → Payment Succeeded (negated) → End

The table explains possible negation evaluation outcomes. The Results modal currently displays completed sequences only.

Activity after Payment Failed	Result
Retry Started → Error Logged → queried records end	Completed
Retry Started → Payment Succeeded	Incomplete
No further queried records for that EventOwner	Completed
Other activity continues until the record limit, without Payment Succeeded	COMPLETED_LIMIT_REACHED

Find unsuccessful payment recovery

Payment Failed → Any → Payment Succeeded (negated) → End

Find payment failures without a subsequent successful payment in the checked window.

Find unresolved support tickets

Ticket Opened → Any → Ticket Resolved (negated) → End

Find tickets without a resolution event in the checked window.

Find orders without shipment

Payment Confirmed → Any → Order Shipped (negated) → End

Find confirmed payments without a subsequent shipment event in the checked window.

Only one event per query can have Is Negation enabled.
The negated event must be the final event, connected directly to End.
It must immediately follow a named event or Any.
A record counts as the forbidden event only if it matches that event’s source and filter conditions.
The absence check starts after the preceding required actions match. Earlier occurrences do not invalidate it.
The default sequence limit is 50 records, including required actions and records captured by Any.
Completion confirms absence only within the checked window. The event may occur outside the query’s data range or after the sequence limit.

Next: Submit the query and view results.