Filter Object (FILTER)

You use the filter object to search for the presence or absence of certain strings in output text files. The files can be in the Automic Automation Engine database or on an agent server.

Object definition

There is only one FILTER object type definition that is delivered with the Automic Automation Engine, namely the FILTER.OUTPUT.

When you read about filter objects in Automic documentation or in messages when working wit Automic, this refers to the FILTER.OUPUT object subtype.

Where You Use the Filter Object

You can use filter objects in the Output Scan Page of the following object types:

You can select one or more filter objects, and what action should take place based on whether the filter object returns a true or false evaluation.

Background/Purpose

In a workflow, you sometimes need to check for a certain processing state before continuing to the next task. When all you need to know is whether the previous task ended with a certain status, you can define post- and pre-conditions for the tasks in the workflow. Other times, however, the state that you need is more than just whether a previous step ends with a certain status. For example, the state that you need might be verified by checking output files of previous tasks for certain strings or combination of strings. That's when you would use a filter object (FILTER.OUTPUT). In a filter object you can define a combination of values that you are looking for or that should be absent when a process is in the state that you need.

Checking for states in workflows is but a usage of the Filter objects. A filter object allows you to check one or more text files for the presence or absence of specific strings, to return an overall true/false value. Based on whether the checks meet the criteria in your filter object, the object returns a true/false value, which you can use in further processing in other objects.

This is How It Works

  1. Create the Filter object.
  2. Assign it to the File Transfer, Job or Remote Task Manager object.

    You do this on the object Output-Scan Page.

    Prerequisite for Filter objects of type Registered Job Output or File:

    Define the output files that you want to register as external for the job. They will be transferred to and stored on the agent; thus they can be accessed from the User Interface and by the Filter object.

    You do this on the Output Page when defining the Job, File Transfer or Remote Task Manager objects.

  3. When the object is executed, the system scans for the strings defined in the Filter object considering the conditions specified there. The results are published to the task report.

Additional Technical Considerations

Administrators set the memory size for reading reports in the DEFAULT_REPORT_SCAN_MEMORY and MAX_REPORT_SCAN_MEMORY options in the UC_SYSTEM_SETTINGS.

Filter objects created in system client 0 can be used in user-defined clients.

See also: