Products
Contact Support Additional Learning Monthly Product Updates
Menu

Forsta Professional Authoring Support

All the topics, resources needed for Forsta Professional Authoring.

Task Properties

  • Last updated:

Articles in this section

In this article

    Click on the Task ID number in a task list to go to the Task Properties page for that task. A window opens as shown in the example below. Here is displayed information about the particular job such as the job definition, recurrence settings, parameters and the status. The window opens at the Definition tab. This tab contains the settings with which the task was set up. The options available, and their settings, will be different for each type of task, and some will be changeable whilst others will be "read-only". The example below shows the Definition tab for a Survey Launch task; see Sending Emails to Respondents Overview for another example.

    Figure 1 - Example of a Task Properties page Definition tab for a Survey Launch task

    Note that the information displayed here will depend on the task type.

    You can run the selected task once, immediately, by clicking on Run Task. A confirmation dialog opens; click OK to run, Cancel to abort the operation. If the task is set to be recurring, running the task in this way will not disturb the recurrence settings. So if for example your task is set to recur every day at 23.00, if you click Run Task at 16.00, the task will run again at 23.00 as planned.

    Notification messages for selected tasks will be sent to the email addresses listed. Multiple email addresses can be specified; separate the addresses with a comma or semicolon. Check the boxes for the desired messahes.

    • Aborted – a message is sent if the task is aborted.
    • Final recurring task completed – a message is sent when a recurring task is run for the last time.
    • Successful – a message is sent if the task is successfully completed.

    Recurrence

    The Recurrence tab shows the initial starting time for the task, and any specified recurrences - . 

    Figure 2 - Example of a Task Properties page Recurrence tab

    To edit the recurrence setup, click the Change button and set Recurring task to Yes. The dialog changes - to that shown below.

    Figure 3 - Changing the recurrence setup

    1. In the New Start Time fields, set the time and date you want the task to be first performed. Note that you can set the time to the nearest minute.
    2. In the End By field, set the date for the final recurrence. No recurrences of this task will be performed after this date.

      3. Note: The default date set in the End By field is "current date + 3 months". You can change this date as required. When a survey is closed, any recurring tasks still running for that survey will be aborted and disabled the next time they are run. Single tasks will be executed without aborting.

    3. In the Recurrence Pattern Type field, select the frequency required for the recurrence. The “Schedule” area below changes depending on the selection made here. In this area:
      • For hourly recurrences, type in the rate. For example, if you want the job to be executed every 4 hours, type 4 into the box. The job will then be first executed at the date and time set in the New Start Time fields, then will be repeated every four hours.
      • For daily recurrences, type in the rate. For example, if you want the job to be executed every 3rd day, type 3 into the box. The job will then be first executed at the date and time selected in the New Start Time fields, and will be repeated every third day.
      • For weekly recurrences, type in the rate and select the days of the week on which you want the job to be executed. For example, if you type 2 into the first box and click in the Monday and Friday boxes to select them, the job will be executed on alternate weeks; the first time on the Monday, the next time on the Friday, the next time on the Monday and so on.
      • For monthly recurrences, type in the day of the month and the rate. For example, if you want the job to be executed on the 10th day of every second month, type 10 into the Day box and 2 into the Month box.
    4. Click Save to save the settings.

    The Recurrence tab changes to display the settings you have selected - , as shown in the example below.

    Figure 4 - Example of the Recurrence Pattern with a recurrence sequence scheduled

    Note: If you go out of the dialog before you save the settings, the settings will revert to their default values. Once you have saved the settings, you can return at any time to change them or halt the task.

    Parameters

    This tab displays parameter information about the task - . Note that the parameters listed will depend on the task type.

    Figure 5 - Example of the Task Properties page Parameters tab for a data export task

    Instances

    This tab - shows the various instances of the recurring task that have been run, and on first opening, the report for the latest instance. Click on the blue date/time links to view the reports for other instances of the task.

    Figure 6 - Example of the Task Properties page Instances tab

    Scheduled

    This tab lists all the tasks which have not yet been run, that are scheduled for all the surveys to which you have access - .

    To access this tab, go to the Home > Tasks menu command or click the Tasks button in the Home toolbar.

    Figure 7 - The Tasks Scheduled tab

    To access a task so you can change its details, click on its blue Task Id link.

    Executing

    This tab - lists all the tasks that are currently executing - that is, actually running now.

    Figure 8 - Example of the Tasks Executing tab

    Completed

    This tab lists all the tasks that have been completed - .

    Figure 9 - Example of the Task Completed tab

    • Click on the blue Task Id link to open the Task Definition dialog. Note that here you can change the task settings, to for example make it recurring, even after the task has run.
    • In the event the list is extensive it may cover several pages. In this case, the Page arrows in the lower-right corner of the page will be active. Click the arrows to move to other pages. Add search criteria to the various fields above the columns to find the task you are interested in (go to Searching in the Task Pane for more information). Click Reset to remove all input search criteria and display the full list.

    Aborted

    This tab lists all the tasks that have been aborted while they were running - .

    Figure 10 - Example of the Tasks Aborted tab

    • In the event the list is extensive it may cover several pages. In this case, the Page arrows in the lower-right corner of the page will be active. Click the arrows to move to other pages. Add search criteria to the various fields above the columns to find the task you are interested in (go to Searching in the Task Pane for more information). Click Reset to remove all input search criteria and display the full list.

    Note: If the task owner's access permission has expired or has been deleted, then the task will abort. An administrator can change the task's owner (go to Changing the Task Owner for more information).

    Recurring

    This tab lists all the tasks that are set to reoccur - .

    Figure 11 - Example of the Tasks Recurring tab

    • Click a blue Task Id link to open the Task Properties dialog for that task. In this dialog you can change the details of the task.
    • You can Disable an unwanted task (go to Disabling a Scheduled Task for more information).
    • In the event the list is extensive it may cover several pages. In this case, the Page arrows in the lower-right corner of the page will be active. Click the arrows to move to other pages. Add search criteria to the various fields above the columns to find the task you are interested in (go to Search for more information). Click Reset to remove all input search criteria and display the full list.

    Note: You can select to receive a notification email when a recurring task has run for the last time. Enable/disable the Final Recurring Task Completed option in the User Settings overlay (click your User Name in the upper-right corner of the Authoring window).

    Search

    The Search tab lists all the tasks that are associated with the surveys that you have access to - (see the figure below for an example). In the event the list is extensive it may cover several pages, and in this case the Page arrows in the lower-right corner of the page will be active. Click the arrows to move to other pages. You can reduce the list by selecting a specific task type, company, server, whether or not the task is recurring, a particular period, report number or hub ID. You can also add search criteria to the various fields above the columns to find the task you are interested in.

    The search parameters are:

    • Task type - for example Batch Emailing, Survey Export, Survey Import, Sampling, DB Generator, WI Generator, Archiving, Project Info Collector, Project Info Exporter, etc.
    • Recurring - you can search for recurring tasks only, for not-recurring tasks, or both types of tasks.
    • Period - if you know when the task you are interested in was scheduled, select the period here.
    • Report Number - if you know the report number, you can search for any tasks related to that report.
    • Hub ID - the ID of the hub to which the task is associated.
    • Task Id - the ID number given to the batch job by the system. Click the Task Id to open the Task Definition page.
    • User Id - if you have several can search for all tasks initiated by a specified user.
    • Project Id - the system generated project number.
    • Status - any, in queue, executing, completed, aborted by user, and aborted by system.

    Note that administrators have additional search criteria. Type or select the required criteria into the appropriate fields and click Search. Click Reset to remove all input search criteria and display the full list.

    You can sort the list by several of the columns by clicking in the column header.

    Figure 12 - Example of the Task Management pane - Search tab

    Was this article helpful?
    0 out of 0 found this helpful
    Return to top