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Running Scheduled Tasks

Scheduler Checklists

Task Scheduler

Access this form using Activities>Manage Sessions>Post Transactions> Scheduler and Activities>Process Allocations> Scheduler.

Use this form to schedule tasks to run automatically at scheduled times. To schedule a task, enter the Task ID and its Description, a beginning and ending Date and Time, and how often the task should run. Since transactions can be posted only once, select a Recurrence type of "Run only once" when scheduling transactions.

The Scheduler works behind the scenes, polling the databases for scheduled tasks at user defined intervals. Reduce processing time by scheduling these tasks after regular office hours when there is less network traffic.

The Recurrence field is set to "Run only once" and the End Date and End Time fields are disabled. The Allocation process scheduled tasks are restricted to one time only recurrences due to the complexities in setting the calculation dates.

The ability to schedule tasks is not available. See Nonprofit Online.

 

Task Information

  • Task ID: Enter a unique name to identify the task being scheduled. Use the Drop-Down Lookup to view a list of existing tasks; however these names cannot be used again.
    Once a task ID is entered and scheduled, either allow the task to run or delete it from the Display Scheduled Tasks form on the desktop taskbar. Once the task is completed, the system removes the task ID from the list.
  • Description: Enter a brief description of the task. It is a good idea to include the name or type of report being scheduled. This will help later when viewing the scheduled and completed tasks forms.

Schedule Information

  • Recurrence: Select how frequently to process the task using the drop-down list. For a one-time task, the end date and time does not matter. For all other recurrences (such as weekly or monthly), specify the date and time to cancel the processing interval. It is recommended when scheduling transactions to post, to select a Recurrence type of "Run only once."
  • Begin Date, Begin Time: Enter the date and time to begin the task.
  • Total Occurrences: The system displays the number of occurrences based upon the begin date/time, end date/time, and the recurrence option chosen.
  • End Date, End Time: Enter the date and time to end the task.
  • If "Print Results Report" is selected on the Options>Reporting tab (from the Scheduler menu), a task results report prints after the scheduled task has processed. The report displays the task ID, description, result (success, warning, or failure), and the organization. If the scheduled task result is warning or failure, an error report prints, in addition to the results report. The error report displays the task ID, result, and a brief description of the error.
  • On the Display Task History form, if the scheduled task result is warning or failure, double-click the result (hyperlink) to display the detailed error message.
  • If you plan to email a scheduled report binder, you must first set up SMTP Email using Organization>Organization Information>Email Setup tab. Note that if you email directly from the binder, without using Scheduler, the system will combine all reports into a PDF file with the report binder name as the title of the PDF to be emailed.