Defining Schedule Objects

The steps for defining Schedules (JSCH) are the same as for any other Automation Engine object. This section describes the settings that are specific to Schedule objects. For general information about the purpose of a Schedule object, see Schedules (JSCH).

To Define the Periodicity and Time Settings of a Schedule Object

In the Process Assembly perspective click Add Object. On the Add Object dialog, select Schedule (JSCH). For information on how to add objects, see Adding Objects.

A Schedule object definition is made up of the following pages:
- Common pages that are always available, no matter what type of object you are defining:
- Pages that are always available for executable objects
- The Schedule page.
Note: You can also create File Transfer objects directly from the Using AWI Combo Boxes that serve to select objects.
On the Object Name dialog enter the name of the new object. Choose it carefully. For more information, see Best Practices: Naming Conventions.
Click OK to open the object definition pages.
Go to the Attributes page and define the following:
- Period Duration
  
  Time frame that determines the regularity with which the tasks are executed. Tasks are executed once within a period.
- Period Turnaround Time
  
  Time at which completed tasks are removed from the Schedule. The same tasks are reloaded for the same period.
Go to the Schedule page.

The Schedule page is divided in two panels. On the upper one, you assemble the tasks and set the time definitions that govern their execution. On the lower pane, you assign Calendars and modify some of the properties of the tasks that you have added. Click the Properties button on the upper right corner of the window to display or hide the lower pane.
Start adding tasks. You have two options:
- Using the drag and drop function.
  
  With this option, you open both the Explorer list of objects and the Schedule at the same time. If you want to add multiple objects to the Schedule, you may want to prepare the Explorer list ahead of time by putting all the relevant objects under the same folder. This will facilitate the following steps.
  
  You have two possibilities:
  - Open the list of objects and the Schedule in two different browser windows and arrange them side by side. Then drag and drop from one window to the other.
  - Open the list and the Schedule in two different browser tabs within the same browser window. In the object list, drag the object and drop it onto the Schedule browser tab.
- Clicking on Add Task in the Name column it to open a combo box from which you can select the tasks. You can scroll through the list or start typing the name of the task. For more information, see Using AWI Combo Boxes.
The No. column displays 1. It indicates that this is the first object that has been inserted in the Schedule. Further tasks are assigned a number in sequential order as you insert them. When you remove a task from the Schedule, these numbers change accordingly.
Activate the task.

The Active checkbox is selected by default. If you deactivate it, the task remains as part of the Schedule object but it is not executed with it. Its status is ENDED_INACTIVE.
Define the time at which the task should be executed.

Click the Start Time cell to activate it and to be able to modify the time. You can specify a different start time for every task in the Schedule. The default value is the time that you have defined in the Period Turnaround Time field on the Schedule Attributes page.

Important! The task start time must always be after the Schedule period turnaround time.
In Start Offset (days), define how many days should pass between the beginning of a period turnaround and the activation of the task.

Important! The Start Offset that you define here cannot be longer than the Period Duration that you have defined on the Attributes page.

The logical date determines the period start. For more information, see Logical Date and Real Date.
Define or modify Calendar conditions for the task. A tick in the Calendar Conditions column indicates that a Calendar Event has already been assigned to the task.

The period duration and the task start offset can cause tasks to be executed on dates that you must avoid. For example, these dates could be non-working days. Or maybe you want the task to be executed only in some of the days that result from those settings. To solve these situations, you assign Calendars to the tasks.

Also, when you add tasks to the Schedule, they might already have Calendar conditions. You can remove them, attach a different one or add an extra Calendar Event here. These changes apply to the task only when it is executed from within this Schedule.
1. To make the properties panel visible, right-click the task and select Properties.
2. On the Calendar tab, activate the Set Calendar Conditions checkbox.
3. Specify when you want the task to be executed taking the Calendar definitions into account.
  - Execute if all conditions match
    
    Select this option to apply a logical AND operation between the selected Calendar Events. All the dates that are common to all selected Calendar Events will be designated and the task will run on all those dates.
  - Execute if no condition matches
    
    The task will not run on the dates designated by the selected Calendar Events. This option is useful, for example, if you have scheduled maintenance dates and you do not want the task to run on those dates.
  - Execute if one condition matches
    
    Use this option to apply a logical OR operation between the selected Calendar Events. The task will run on any date designated by the selected Calendar Events.
4. To select the Calendar Events that determine the dates on which the conditions apply, open the Task Calendar Conditions combo box. You have the following options:
  - Start entering the name of the Calendar Event. The autocomplete function helps you find it.
  - Start typing the name of the Calendar in which the Calendar Event is defined.
  - Scroll through the list to find it.
Notes: If a task is not executed due to the defined Calendar conditions, its status is ENDED_INACTIVE.

For more information about Calendars, see Calendars (CALE). For more information on Calendar Events, see Calendar Events.
If Object Variables have been assigned to the task, they are displayed in the Variables tab. If you want the object variables to behave differently when the object is executed from within this Schedule, you can override their values here. For more information, see Variables Page.

Important! Tasks can inherit the Variables that are defined in the Schedule. For more information, see Inheriting Object and PromptSet Variables.
If PromptSets have been assigned to the task, they are displayed on the Prompt Sets tab. You can populate the fields with the values to be used when the Schedule object executes the task. If you do so, no user input is required at runtime.

Important! Tasks can inherit the PromptSets defined in the Schedule.
On the Runtime page of executable objects, you define the parameters to calculate the maximum and minimum runtimes of tasks. If there are deviations, you specify what should happen. You can ignore these definitions when the task is executed from within the Schedule. A tick in the Override Runtime Settings column indicates that this is the case.

You can still monitor the runtime of the task when it is executed from within the Schedule. This function allows you to react quickly to runtimes that exceed the maximum runtime. When the execution has ended, you can also monitor whether it was processed within the minimum runtime. If not, you can react accordingly.

On the Runtime tab in the properties pane, activate the Override Runtime Settings checkbox to display the options.

For more information about how to set the runtime options, see Runtime Page.
On the Result tab, define what should happen with the task depending on its status after execution. A tick in the Result Check column indicates that these parameters have been defined.
1. On the Result tab, activate the Check Result checkbox. The Result Settings and Actions on Status Deviation sections are displayed.
2. In Result Settings > OK Status select the status that you expect this task to have when the execution is finished.
3. In the Actions on Status Deviation section, define what should happen if the task ends with a different status.
  - Activate Execute Again and specify how often (Repeat x times) and the frequency (Interval x minutes) with which the execution should be repeated.
  - Activate Execute another object and select the object that will be executed if the task ends with a status different from the one you have just selected.
  - Specify whether you want to execute every repetition again or just the last repetition with the deviating status.
Click the Add Row button to add more tasks.
Save your changes.

Next Steps

After you have defined the Schedule object, you must execute it manually for the first time to activate it. From that moment onward, the Schedule runs automatically. For more information, see Activating/Executing Schedule Objects.
While the schedule is running, you can follow its progress through its Last Monitor page. For more information, see Monitoring Schedules.

Two scenarios are possible:
- The schedule is still running
  You can restart tasks, open their monitor (reports and execution data) and call their details. You can also modify some of its parameters. These modifications apply to only this execution. For more information, see Modifying Active Schedules and Modifying Task Properties in an Active Schedule.
- The schedule has already finished
  
  The properties of the tasks are in read-only mode and cannot be modified. You can restart tasks, open the Schedule monitor, access its reports and execution data, and so on.
Depending on the status of the schedule and of its tasks, different functions are available. For more information, see Working with Tasks.

Tip: Schedules can contain many tasks. Use the export to CSV functionality to get an overview, sort and compare data, and so on. For more information, see Exporting Tables to CSV.