About Tasks in the Advanced Scheduling Tool

In this section:

How to:

The Task option allows you to specify a task type, which will determine what the schedule will run or do to obtain the report that is to be distributed. For WebFOCUS procedures (FEXs), you can indicate whether or not to burst the report. In the Advanced Scheduling tool, you can set multiple tasks for the Email and Printer distribution methods. For more information, see About Tasks in the Basic Scheduling Tool.

The following task types are available:

The following image shows the Task tab in the Advanced Scheduling tool when you click the New drop-down list.

new drop-down list

To create a Task, select one of the options. For more information, see Task Types.


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Task Types

In this section:

This section describes the different Task types.



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WebFOCUS Server Procedure

The options available when you select the WebFOCUS Server Procedure Task type are shown in the following image.

The Task dialog box for a WebFOCUS Server Procedure displays three tabs.

The following terms and definitions apply to the WebFOCUS Server Procedure Task type:

For Report Properties, indicate if you want to burst the report (FEX) output. Optionally, select the Override the Format Specified in the Procedure check box to override the format specified in the procedure with a selection from the drop-down list. The following image shows the Task dialog box for a WebFOCUS Server Procedure task.

You can also use parameters when populating certain fields in this dialog box, as shown in the following image.

Note: You can use parameters (amper variables) when specifying a value in the Save Report As field of a schedule. These parameters can be system variables, such as &YYMD or any amper variable for which a value is returned by the Reporting Server when the scheduled procedure is executed. To use the dot file extension separator after a variable, terminate the variable with the '|' character, for example, &YYMD|.htm. Similarly, to use the ampersand character itself, follow the ampersand with the '|' character (for example, Smith&|Jones). If a value for a parameter specified in a schedule is not returned by the Reporting Server when the procedure executes, the schedule will fail with a "No report to distribute" error. If the scheduled task is burst, you can also use the '%BURST' symbol to include the burst value in the Save Report As field.



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WebFOCUS Repository Report

The options available when you select the WebFOCUS Report Task type are shown in the following image.

The Task dialog box for a WebFOCUS Repository Report displays three tabs.

The following terms and definitions apply to the WebFOCUS Report Task type:

For Report Properties, indicate if you want to burst the report (FEX) output. Optionally, select the Override the Format Specified in the Procedure check box to override the format specified in the procedure with a selection from the drop-down list. The following image shows the Task dialog box for a WebFOCUS Repository Report task.

You can also use parameters when populating certain fields in this dialog box, as shown in the following image.

Note: You can use parameters (amper variables) when specifying a value in the Save Report As field of a schedule. These parameters can be system variables, such as &YYMD or any amper variable for which a value is returned by the Reporting Server when the scheduled procedure is executed. To use the dot file extension separator after a variable, terminate the variable with the '|' character, for example, &YYMD|.htm. Similarly, to use the ampersand character itself, follow the ampersand with the '|' character (for example, Smith&|Jones). If a value for a parameter specified in a schedule is not returned by the Reporting Server when the procedure executes, the schedule will fail with a "No report to distribute" error. If the scheduled task is burst, you can also use the '%BURST' symbol to include the burst value in the Save Report As field.



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File

The options available when you select the File Task type are shown in the following image.

The following terms and definitions apply to the File Task type:



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FTP

The options available when you select the FTP Task type are shown in the following image.

The following terms and definitions apply to the FTP Task type:



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URL

The options available when you select the URL Task type are shown in the following image.

The following terms and definitions apply to the URL Task type:


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Procedure: How to Create a Task
  1. Click the Tasks tab.
  2. In the Manage Tasks group, click the down arrow adjacent to the New button and select the type of task that you want to create.
  3. In the Task Name field, type a descriptive name for the task.
  4. Depending on the type of task you are creating, provide the appropriate parameters. For example, provide the FTP server name, FTP user, the file name, the transfer file type, and the file name by which to save the file on the FTP site.
  5. If applicable, select report parameters, the report format, and whether the report is burst.
  6. If applicable, add pre-processing and post-processing procedures to the scheduled job.
  7. Click Save.

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Disabling Tasks Within a Schedule

How to:

When working with an established schedule, you can disable one or more tasks within that schedule. You can also create a new schedule with multiple tasks and then disable one or more of those tasks, as needed. For more information, see How to Create a Schedule in the Advanced Scheduling Tool.

Note: This procedure applies to schedules that have multiple tasks. If you disable all tasks in a schedule, the schedule is disabled.



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Procedure: How to Disable Tasks Within a Schedule
  1. Using the Advanced Scheduling tool, create or open a schedule with multiple tasks.
  2. On the ribbon, in the Show group, click Tasks.
    1. If you are creating a schedule with new tasks, click New. For more information, see About Tasks in the Advanced Scheduling Tool.
    2. If you are editing an existing schedule that already has multiple tasks defined, select a task from the list and click Edit.
  3. In the Task dialog box, clear the Enabled check box, as shown in the following image.

  4. Click OK.

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