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Tecsys Visual Streamline White Paper Series

Visual Streamline Task Scheduler Framework

Tecsys Visual Streamline White Paper Series

© 2019 by Tecsys, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published 2019.

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Printed in Canada.

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March 2019 Tecsys Visual Streamline White Paper Series Page: i

Overview ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Task Scheduler ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Task Schedules ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3 New Schedule – Setting Task Parameters ............................................................................................................................. 4 New Schedule – Settings Schedule Parameters .................................................................................................................... 5 Edit Schedule .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Transaction Log ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Task Scheduler Notifications ................................................................................................................................................... 8 And Finally ............................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Table of Contents

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March 2019 Tecsys Visual Streamline White Paper Series Page: 1

Task Scheduler Framework is a program within Visual Streamline that provides the ability to schedule the launch of programs at pre-defined times and frequencies, with pre-defined parameters, with output directed to pre-defined folders or printers, and email notification sent to pre-defined addresses. Tasks that are scheduled are typically of the following types: Registers; Reports; Utilities; and Email Alerts. In order for tasks to be schedulable, a new schedulable version of the program must be created by a Visual Streamline developer. As such, this is an ongoing project, as more and more programs are having schedulable counterparts created. The Task Scheduler Framework functions as follows: • the Task Scheduler Framework can be accessed from the Company Setup > Interfaces… menu; • any one of the following user rights: Right to Schedule Jobs (RTSCHJ); Streamline Administrator (reserved

for TECSYS personnel); or Streamline Developer (reserved for TECSYS personnel) is required to access the program;

• the initial Task Scheduler screen shows tasks that can be scheduled as well as the number of currently active schedules for each;

• the Task Scheduler also includes the following functionality: • the display can be filtered by Task Type: All; Registers; Reports, Utilities and Email Alerts; • a Task Schedule screen can be launched with functionality as follows: • schedules can be filtered as follows: Active; Expired; On Hold; or All; • schedules can be created, changed, deleted or held; • users can only create and/or maintain schedules for tasks to which they have the required rights; • users with Right to Schedule Jobs (RTSCHJ) can only edit their own schedules; • users with Streamline Administrator right (reserved for TECSYS personnel) can edit any schedule; • a Schedule Transaction Log screen for viewing pending or completed transactions for the schedule on which

the user is currently parked can be launched from here; • a Schedule Transaction Log screen for viewing pending or completed transactions for the task on which the

user is currently parked can be launched from here; • tasks are created and modified from this menu, if the user is a Streamline Developer; • the actual Task Scheduler that processes the scheduled tasks is run in the background by the DxServer and

this Task Scheduler can be enabled/disabled from the Company Setup > Control File Maintenance (Miscellaneous tab) by a user with Right to Control File Maintenance (RTCFM), Right of Installation (ROINSTALL) and Streamline Administrator rights (reserved for TECSYS personnel);

• expired schedules and their transaction logs are automatically deleted by the Task Scheduler after a user-defined retention period. This retention period is expressed in days and can be maintained from the Company Setup > Control File Maintenance (Miscellaneous tab) by a user with Right to Control File Maintenance (RTCFM), Right of Installation (ROINSTALL) and Streamline Administrator rights (reserved for TECSYS personnel).

• Notifications are sent from the Task Scheduler to the email address identified in the Email Notification section of the schedule parameters every time that a scheduled transaction with a status of pending is executed. In order to configure this, there needs to be an email account assigned to the service user account “ sisl_sqlservr” . This email account would have a dummy email address like [email protected] configured specifically for this purpose. This is required for these outgoing notifications. Your internet service provider (ISP) should be able to provide TECSYS with the credentials to connect to their SMTP server for this purpose.

Overview

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The Task Scheduler can be accessed from the Company Setup > Interface… menu.. The user needs any one of the following user rights: Right to Schedule Jobs (RTSCHJ); Streamline Administrator; or Streamline Developer to access the program.

Task Scheduler

At the time of creating this white paper, schedulable tasks were still being created. The Task Type group box allows the user to filter the display by task type. The Schedules button invokes the Task Schedule screen (shown further in this document) which is the tool for creating new schedules, modifying, deleting or holding existing tasks for the task on which the user is currently parked. The Transaction Log button invokes the Schedule Transaction Log screen (shown further in this document) for viewing pending or completed transactions for the task on which the user is currently parked. The New Task, Modify Task and Delete Task buttons are available only to users with Streamline Developer right. These buttons are used to create and maintain the tasks that have been written or modified in Streamline as schedulable programs. The Task Business Rule button is used to link to each task business rules that may be required. This button is only available to users with Streamline Developer right. If a task’s business rule(s) are off, that task will normally not be displayed, but if the user has the Streamline Developer right it will be displayed in red. The Active Schedules counter represents the number of currently active schedules that currently exist for each task. The Refresh button re-evaluates that counter. NOTE: The program title will inform the user if the Streamline Batch Service is not running or if the Task Scheduler is not enabled.

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The schedules for any given task can be seen by clicking the Schedules button on Task Scheduler screen. This will invoke the Task Schedules screen for the task on which the user is currently parked. The screen initially shows the Active schedules for that task… in this illustration, the 2 active schedules for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task are shown.

Task Schedules

The header section of the Task Schedules program allows the user to filter the display by schedule status. The default is Active. The New button allows users to create new schedules for the current task. The Modify, Delete and Hold/Release Hold buttons apply to the schedule on which the user is currently parked. Users with Right to Schedule Jobs (RTSCHJ) can only edit (modify, delete, hold or release hold) their own schedules. Users with Streamline Administrator right (reserved for TECSYS personnel) can edit any schedules. The Modify button allows users to modify the schedule. The Delete button allows users to delete the schedule and all associated transaction logs. The Hold/Release Hold button allows users to put the schedule on or off hold. This button will be disabled if the current schedule has expired. The Transaction Log button invokes the Schedule Transaction Log screen (shown further in this document) for viewing pending or completed transactions for the schedule on which the user is currently parked. The Refresh button re-evaluates and re-displays the transactions for the current schedule.

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To create a new schedule for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task, click the New button from the Task Schedules screen for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task. NOTE: Users can only create schedules for tasks to which they have the required rights.

New Schedule – Setting Task Parameters

The New Schedule screen for any pre-existing task that can also be run from within Visual Streamline will look almost identical to its Visual Streamline counterpart with a couple of exceptions: • the dropdown for Print To options will no longer include a Screen option; • any prompts for Date Fields will no longer be presented; • the Print button will be replaced by a Schedule button.

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To set the new scheduling parameters for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task, click the Schedule button from the New Schedule screen for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task. At this point, the user can change the schedule description, set the frequency, start date, run time, end date, email address for notification, and printer /folder output destination. Shown below are 2 variations of the screen that may be presented.

New Schedule – Setting Schedule Parameters

The Description can be changed to suit the task parameters. There are multiple frequency options as follows: • One Time which further prompts for a Start Date and Run at time; • Daily which prompts for a Start Date, End Date and Run at time; • Weekly which prompts for a Day (multiple selections can be made), Start Date, End Date and Run at time; • Monthly which prompts for a Day of the Month (1-31, only one day can be selected), Start Date, End Date and Run at

time. The Email Notification pulls the user’s email address by default but this can be changed (email addresses can be strung together separated by semi-colons). If the scheduled task is being printed, the output will go to the default printer or the user can select an alternate printer from the dropdown that will be presented by pressing the Printer button. If the scheduled task is being printed to PDF, CSV, or XML, then the Output Folder will default to the user’s My Documents folder, or the user can specify or F5 to select an alternate folder. Saving the schedule will create a transaction log entry, with a status of Pending, for the first date and time, based on the schedule parameters, that occurs after the current time.

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To modify the either the task or schedule parameters of an existing schedule for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task, click the Modify button from the Task Schedules screen for the Inventory Availability/Valuation Report task while parked on the schedule to be modified. Users with Right to Schedule Jobs (RTSCHJ) can only modify their own schedules, while owners with Streamline Administrator right can modify any user’s schedules. Schedules can also be deleted and put on or off hold from this screen. The same user rights apply.

Edit Schedule

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To view a transaction log for a Post G/L Register schedule click on the Transaction Log button from the Task Schedules screen for the Post G/L Register task while parked on the schedule to be modified.

Transaction Log

The header section allows the user to filter the display by log status. The default is Pending, while the screenshot here shows All. The transactions are displayed in descending sequence so that the most recent transaction shows first. The display shows the transactions status (Waiting, Processing, Expired, On Hold, Completed), scheduled date, run date and run result (Failed or Succeeded). Active schedules are automatically put on hold after the end date.

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Notifications are sent from the Task Scheduler to the email address identified in the Email Notification section of the schedule parameters every time that a scheduled transaction with a status of pending is executed. In order to configure this, there needs to be an email account assigned to the service user account “ sisl_sqlservr” . This email account would have a dummy email address like [email protected] configured specifically for this purpose. This is required for these outgoing notifications. Your internet service provider (ISP) should be able to provide TECSYS with the credentials to connect to their SMTP server for this purpose. Information contained in the Task Scheduler Notification are as follows: • the Task Description; • the Schedule ID and its Description; • the Transaction ID; • the scheduled date and time; • the completed date and time; • a result of either Succeeded or Failed; • the Output Folder or Printer destination; • the File Name for the resultant report(s), if applicable; (NOTE: the actual file may or may not be attached to

the notification email, depending on the scheduled task’s settings for the radio button that determines: Output to Folder; Attach to Email; or Both)

• context sensitive comments (register numbers, reason for a failed status, …). NOTE: Transactions whose scheduled dates go by while either the Task Scheduler is disabled or the Streamline Batch Service is not running will generate, upon enabling the Task Scheduler or re-starting the Streamline Batch Service, a Failed result and a comment that either the Task Scheduler was not enabled or the Streamline Batch Service was not running at the scheduled run time.

Task Scheduler Notification

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The Task Scheduler can be enabled/disabled from the Company Setup > Control File Maintenance screen. The checkbox is located in the bottom right hand corner of the Misc tab. The number of days after which expired schedules and transaction logs are automatically cleaned up can also be set from the Company Setup > Control File Maintenance screen. The value is set from the Data Cleanup Retention Period field in the bottom left hand corner of the Misc tab. A value of 0 means that schedules and transaction logs will always be retained unless manually deleted. NOTE: These fields are only enabled for users with Streamline Administrator right (reserved for TECSYS personnel). To access Company Setup, the user must have right ROC (Right of Company). To access Control File Maintenance, the user must have right RTCFM (Right to Control File Maintenance). To modify Control File fields, the user must have right ROINSTALL (Right of Installation).

And Finally…