User Guide > Objects > Alphabetical Listing > Postconditions Tab

Postconditions Tab

You use this tab to specify conditions that will be checked after a task has been processed. Whenever a condition applies, the corresponding actions are executed.

As of Automation Engine version 9.00A, this tab replaces the Result tab, but the functions are still the same. There are now even more evaluations and actions that you can run after a task has been processed.

An automatic conversion process takes place when you update the databaseA database is an organized collection of data including relevant data structures. or load the Transport Case of a previous version. The conditions and actions of the Postconditions tab are set in a way that they show the same functionality as the Result tab of version 8.00A or earlier versions.
Object imports of previous versions (XML) must be converted manually by starting the utility AE DB Load and selecting the ConvertResult.txt file which is available in the folder CD:\DB\GENERAL\9.00A.

You cannot modify this tab by using the script element MODIFY_TASK.

This tab is similar to the Preconditions tab which is also available in the workflow properties. However, the available conditions and actions and the evaluation time differ from each other. The Postconditions tab is checked after the task has ended.

Defining Conditions and Actions

The window includes two sections. The right section lists the conditions and actions (depending on the selected category). The left section is empty at the beginning, but you can select and drag conditions and actions of your choice and drop them into this section.

You can also create actions without a corresponding condition. In this case, the action is always executed.

You can copy condition and action blocks including their sub-blocks and all parameters that include values, and insert them in the Preconditions tab. Use the shortcuts CTRL + C, CTRL + V for this purpose, or click the button in order to open the corresponding menu.

You can insert any number of conditions and actions within each condition block. The nesting depth depends on your selections.

After you have added blocks, you can specify the required parameters that determine the behavior and values of the conditions and actions. Click the corresponding parameter names and complete the fields in the displayed dialog window.

You can also usepredefined variablesas parameter values. To open the Variable picker, you click the element name (= blue text left to the element) in the parameter dialog. The relevant input field changes to a gray text field and the button at the lower right edge becomes active. Click it to open the Variable picker dialog.

There is a menu for each block that can be opened by clicking the symbol. The following options are available:

Always - Checks or executes the condition/action with each evaluation. Blocks are flagged with a symbol.
Once - The block is processed once and then ignored in all other evaluation cycles. The symbol at the upper right edge changes to .
Deactivate - The block is always skipped and is grayed out. The same is true for all the block's subordinate actions and conditions.
Cut/Copy/Remove - The block is moved, duplicated or deleted.
Add Else block - Adds an else condition (only for conditions).

The conditions and actions of the Postconditions tab are only checked once. Therefore, the Once function is only available if the task is restarted by using the RESTART TASK action. "Once" blocks are not re-evaluated in restarted tasks.
The predefined variable &$RESTART_COUNT# and the script element SYS_ACT_RESTART_COUNT retrieve the number of times that a workflow task has already been restarted using the script statement RESTART TASK. You can use this predefined variable in combination with the condition USER DEFINED if you want to process a maximum of three restarts.
An example can be found in the sample collection guide.

You can also use object and PromptSet variables within the Postconditions tab. Make sure that the variables are available when you call the relevant conditions and/or actions. Keep the following in mind when you set the variables by using one or several predecessors in the workflow:

When "Generate at runtime" is not set in the task that includes the definitions for the Postconditions tab, "Generate at runtime" must not be set in the predecessors that define the variable.
You cannot set variables by using the Post-Process tab (:PSET) of the direct predecessor when the option "Generate at runtime" is not set in the task that includes the definitions for the Postconditons tab.

Evaluation

This tab's conditions are checked and actions are executed (evaluation process) after the Output Scan and Post-Process are executed. As opposed to Preconditions, Postconditions take place once; it is irrelevant whether a final action has been reached. The evaluation ends when a final action has been reached.

During the evaluation process the task obtains the status "Waiting for Postconditions".

Conditions like all other properties can be modified at runtime provided that the task has not yet ended.

The time that is required to process the condition blocks does not affect the individual task's runtime monitoring; it affects the workflow's runtime monitoring.

Note that the workflow's object variables are not passed on to the Post-Conditions tab once more. This means that the values that were originally passed on to the workflow task are used for the conditions and actions of the Post-Conditions tab even if the workflow's object variables have been changed in the meantime.

Conditions

Condition	Description	Parameters
CHECK ACTIVITIES	Checks the number of times that a task is shown in the Activity Window with a particular status or status area.	-) The alias or object name -) Corresponds to "greater", "less", "equal" or "not equal" -) The number of object executions -) Status You can only set states in which the task has not yet ended or aborted (such as active, blocking, waiting and stop conditions). End conditions are not available. ANY_ACTIVE - The task is active. ANY_BLOCKED - The task blocks. (System return code: 1560, 1898) ANY_BLOCKED_OR_STOPPED - The task has been stopped or it blocks (system return codes: 1560, 1561, 1562, 1563, 1564, 1898) ANY_RUNNING - The task is active and not in a waiting condition ANY_STOPPED - The task has been stopped (system return codes: 1561, 1562, 1563, 1564) ANY_WAITING - The task is in a waiting condition. WAITING_AGENT - The task is waiting for an agent (system return code: 1696) WAITING_AGENT_OR_AGENTGROUP - The task is waiting for an agent or an agent of an agent group (system return codes: 1686, 1687, 1688, 1696) WAITING_AGENTGROUP - The task is waiting for an agent of an agent group (system return codes: 1686, 1687, 1688) WAITING_EXTERNAL - The task is waiting for an external dependency (system return code: 1690) WAITING_GROUP - The task is waiting for a group to start (system return code: 1710) WAITING_QUEUE - The task is waiting for a Queue object (system return code: 1684) WAITING_SYNC - The task is in a waiting condition because of Sync conditions (system return code: 1697)
CHECK CONNECTION	Checks whether a certain agent is available. In SAP and database agents you can also define a Connection object. This condition has the same function as the script element SYS_HOST_ALIVE.	-) Agent The number of agents is limited by the SQLVAR_MAX_ROWS setting defined in the UC_SYSTEM_SETTINGS - System-Wide Settings variable. -) Connection object (optional) Note that you must select the empty value in the combo box when you do not want to define a Connection object. The default value <CONNECTION> is not valid.
CHECK FILE	Checks whether a particular file exists.	-) Agent The value OWN indicates that the task's agent is used (the source agent in file transfers). Only supported in jobs and file transfers. Attention: Only the OS agent can make a file check. An error will occur if the task is a SAP job and you select OWN for the agent. The number of agents is limited by the SQLVAR_MAX_ROWS setting defined in the UC_SYSTEM_SETTINGS - System-Wide Settings variable. -) Path and file name -) "Exists" or "Does not exist"
CHECK HISTORY	Checks whether an object has ended with a particular status in a particular time span. The time span must be specified in days, hours and minutes. It ranges from the current time to the past. This action cannot be used in the statistics of previous Automation Engine versions.	-) The alias or object name -) Status -) Days -) Time in the format HH:MM
CHECK PROCESS	Checks whether a particular process runs on a computer. Only possible with Windows and UNIX platforms.	-) Process: PID (process ID) or the name of the process. You can also specify a part of the process name with or without wildcard characters (). The system searches within the process name even if you do not use a wildcard character within a string. -) Status "running" or "not running" -) Agent UNIX or Windows agent The number of agents is limited by the SQLVAR_MAX_ROWS setting defined in the UC_SYSTEM_SETTINGS - System-Wide Settings variable. -) Login object The value OWN for the agent or the Login object indicates that the task's attributes are used (only supported in file transfers and jobs). In file transfers, the source's values are retrieved.
CURRENT TIME	Checks whether a certain point in time lies before or after the current (physical) point in time (converted to the time zone that has been used to start this task).	-) "Before" or "After" -) Time in the format HH:MM:SS
RETURN CODE	Checks the task's return code.	-) Operator: '>', '>=', '=', '<','<=' or '<>' -) Return code for the comparison
STATUS	Checks the task's end status.	-) Status (ENDED* - such as ENDED_OK)
TIME SINCE ACTIVATION	Checks the time that has passed since the task has been activated.	-) "Less than" or "More than" -) Duration in the format HH:MM
USER DEFINED	Compares two values of your choice with each other.	-) Value 1 (script literal, predefined variables) -) Operator: '>', '>=', '=', '<','<=' or '<>' -) Value 2 (script literal, predefined variables) Only the predefined variables whose values are available at the time that they are accessed are resolved. Variables can be used for system, object and Variable object values.

Actions

Action	Description	Parameters	Final Action
ABORT	Sets an abort signal within the workflow. When this actions is take, direct successors will not be processed any more. Other parallel branches within the workflow will be processed normally. If all other branches are finished, the workflow will terminate abnormally.	-) The task's status text (optional). The status text is truncated in the Detail Window if this parameter exceeds the maximum number of 32 characters. The report displays the text in its full length.	Yes
BLOCK	Sets the task to a blocked status.	-) The task's status text (optional). The status text is truncated in the Detail Window if this parameter exceeds the maximum number of 32 characters. The report displays the text in its full length.	Yes
CANCEL PROCESS FLOW	Cancels the workflow. This action is similar to the CANCEL_UC_OBJECT script function. When this action is taken, the worflow is terminated immediately and no new tasks within it are started.	-) The workflow that should be canceled. Possible values: "OWN", "Top" or "Parent" OWN - Workflow in which the task runs. Parent - Superordinate workflow of *OWN. Top - Top workflow. -) Also cancel workflow's tasks? Possible values "including" or "excluding."	Yes
CLEAR VARIABLE	Deletes the entry of a static Variable object.	-) The name of the Variable object. -) Key If the Key begins with the & character, use this character twice.	No
EXECUTE OBJECT	Starts any object and does not check its status. The UC_CAUSE - ReadBuffers include values and can be read in this object's script.	-) The object name -) Alias (optional) Name to be used for the task that should start instead of the object name in the Activity Window and the statistics. -) Parameter... (optional) Opens a dialog in which you can modify the PromptSet values of the object that should start. Can only be called if at least one PromptSet object has been assigned to the object. -) Wait for task or not? The started object always inherits all variables of the workflow task.	No
MODIFY STATUS	Modifies the task's return code.	-) Return code -) Status text (optional) Alphanumeric string, maximum 32 characters.	No
PUBLISH VALUE	Publishes a value via an object variable. The specified object variable is created if it does not yet exist. Otherwise, a value is assigned to it. Then the value is provided to the subsequent tasks. This action has the same function as the SET VALUE action. The only difference is that the object variable is always passed on to the workflow.	-) Value -) The variable name The variable name must be specified without a leading & character. In the "Postconditions" report it is also written in the same way. In the object, it will be accessed with an & character.
RESTART TASK	Executes the task's restart. Note that the conditions and actions of the Preconditions tab will be skipped if the task is restarted using this action.		Yes
ROLLBACK	Starts the rollback of the task, the task's workflow or the top workflow. This action affects all subordinate tasks. You can define the Rollback object in the Rollback tab .	-) The task that should be rolled back. Allowed values: "This task", "Parent Workflow" or "Top Workflow"	Yes
SET VALUE	Defines or assigns values to an object variable. The setting "Generate at runtime" must be activated in the particular object in order to use this object variable (except for Post-Process) regardless of the parameter Scope (task or workflow). Otherwise, the system tries to access a variable that does not exist or returns the old value (if the variable is already defined in the object).	-) The variable name Specify the variable name without a leading &. The Postconditions report also shows the name without &. If it is accessed in the object, the & character is used. -) Value (optional) -) Does it affect the task or the workflow?	No
SET VARIABLE	Enters the value in a static Variable object. Existing values are overwritten.	-) The name of the Variable object -) Key If the Key begins with the & character, use this character twice. -) Column Possible values: 0 to 5 "0" indicates that the specified value is written to value column 1 and all other columns are reset. -) Value	No