Scheduling and Running Tasks (v2.4)

To schedule recipes and other tasks, you use the Business Scheduler, which you can also use to run tasks manually. There are three types of tasks:

Recipe—runs a single recipe
AtScaleCube—rebuilds a cube
Snapshot—performs a snapshot run

Scheduling a Task

To schedule a task:

Click the Business Scheduler icon in the application menu.
The system displays a table that lists the currently defined schedule items; if needed, use the filters at the top of the table to narrow down what is shown.
Click Schedule Task.
The system displays a table that lists the items that can be scheduled. If needed, use the filters at the top of the table to narrow down what is shown.
Click the row corresponding to the item to schedule.
Specify the following information:
- Entity—Required. Select the entity whose calendar information you want to use.
- Enabled—Optionally clear this check box if you want to disable this task (for example, if you are not ready to run or schedule it).
- Tag, Dependency Expression, and Dependency Inactivity—See Managing Task Dependencies.
- Workflow Role for Handling Exceptions—Required. Select the role that should receive any workflow items in case of exceptions related to this task.
- Email Distribution List for Error Notifications—Select the email distribution list that should receive messages when this task encounters an error.
- Email Distribution List for Success Notifications—Select the email distribution list that should receive messages when this task runs successfully.
Then for Scheduling Details, either select the Manually Run check box or specify the following information:
- Type of frequency to run at —Required. Select the option that best describes how often to run this task.
  Depending on your selection, the page may show additional items to control the scheduling, such as the specific days of the week, the specific months, and so on.
- On Holidays —Required. Select the option that describes how to handle holidays: Don’t Run, Run Anyway, Run Next Business Day, Run Previous Business Day.
- Schedule Task End Time—Optionally select this if you want the task to stop running at a specific date and time. If you select this option, also specify Task End Date and Task End Time.
Click Save Task.

Managing Task Dependencies

There may be specific tasks that you want to run only after other tasks have been run, on the same day; the system provides a way to manage these dependencies. To specify that one task (task A) should not be run until another task (task B) has completed, you use the following system:

Decide on a unique, short tag that describes this dependency (for example, backup). Note that tags are case-sensitive.
When scheduling the task or tasks that need to occur first (in our example, task B), specify the Tag field, using the tag you have decided on.
When scheduling the dependent task (task A), specify Dependency Expression, which uses a special kind of syntax. In its simplest form, the expression is as follows:
```
TODAY(tag)
```
Where tag is a tag. For example:
```
TODAY(backup)
```
This expression means that the task should not be started until the completion (today) of a task that is tagged with the backup tag.
You can combine dependency expression via the keywords AND and OR, along with parentheses. For example:
```
TODAY(tagA) OR (TODAY(tagB) AND TODAY(tagC))
```
In addition to specifying Dependency Expression, you can specify Dependency Inactivity in seconds.

Modifying a Task Definition

To modify a task definition (for example, to change the schedule details):

Click the Business Scheduler icon in the application menu.
The system displays a table that lists the items that are currently scheduled. If needed, use the filters at the top of the table to narrow down what is shown.
Click the three dots in the row for the task. This displays a menu.
Click Open Task Details.
Click Edit Task.
Modify details here in the same way as when you schedule a task.
Click Save Task.
The system runs the task (or attempts to) within the next minute. When it does so, it updates the Run History section of this page.

Running a Task Manually

To run a task manually:

Click the Business Scheduler icon in the application menu.
The system displays a table that lists the items that are currently scheduled. If needed, use the filters at the top of the table to narrow down what is shown.
Tasks that can be run manually are displayed here with Next Run as Manual; these are tasks defined with the Manually Run check box selected.
Click the three dots in the row for the task. This displays a menu.
Click Open Task Details.
Click Manually Run Now.
Click Run Task to confirm.
The system runs the task (or attempts to) within the next minute. When it does so, it updates the Run History section of this page.

Aborting a Task

To stop a task that is currently running:

Click the Business Scheduler icon in the application menu.
Click the three dots in the row for the task. This displays a menu.
Click Open Task Details.
Click Abort Task.
Click Abort Task to confirm.
The system runs the task (or attempts to) within the next minute. When it does so, it updates the Run History section of this page.

Also see Handling Task Errors.

Deleting a Task

To delete a task definition:

Click the Business Scheduler icon in the application menu.
Click the three dots in the row for the task. This displays a menu.
Click Open Task Details.
Click Delete.
Click Delete to confirm.