Lesson 2: Quick Operation Setup 

Just about every environment will have some simple scheduling needs. This lesson explains the necessary steps to quickly setup an Operation and assign a Schedule to the Operation. First, you need to log start the SmartBatch Administrator.  Make sure you have been added to either the SmartBatch Administrator or SmartBatch Operator roles.

Note: You will learn more about Scheduling, Notification and Windows automation processing in the lesson to follow.

Step 1: Run the Administrator:

Choose Start Menu, Programs, SmartBatch Administrator. After the SmartBatch Connect window displays, make sure the correct computer name is displayed or enter the name of the computer where the Executive Server is running.

Step 2: Defining a Schedule:

Schedules can be assigned to Operations, Steps and Jobs. In this lesson you create a Schedule and assign it to an Operation.

Right-click on the Schedules node in the tree view and select New Schedule.  The Schedule Properties windows is now displayed.  Enter a Schedule Name, Description, an Occurs (Specific Dates, Daily, Weekly or Monthly) and a Start Time. Click on the Apply button to add the Schedule or the OK button to add the Schedule and close the Window.

Step 3: Creating the Operation and assigning a Schedule to the Operation:

Right-click on the Operations node in the tree view and select New Operations. This will display the Operations Properties window.  Enter an Operation Name, Description, select the Schedule Name you created in Step 1 and the Operation text.  For a quick example, the Operation text can be similar to cmd.exe /c dir *.*.  This starts up a command prompt and simply does a directory command.

Note:  If you wanted to assign an Alert List to the Operation you could do that now (if you had previously created an Alert List). Also, an Alert List could be assigned after the Operation is created by selecting the Alert List and using the Apply button.

Step 4: Add the Operation:

Click the Apply button to add the Operation. The Operation will run when the Schedule you created above occurs. The Executive Server must be running (see Running The Executive Server) for this to happen.

Other Operations Activities

Modifying An Operation

Change the items on the Operation Update window that you want updated. Select the Apply button to save the changes to the database.

Deleting An Operation

You delete an Operation from the list in the right pane of the SmartBatch user interface.  The Operations are listed by clicking on the Operations node in the tree view.  Right-clicking on an operation in the list will show you a list of menu actions that you can perform on the Operation.  Select the Delete menu item to delete the selected Operation.

Testing An Operation With Operation Preview

Select the Operation Preview button to navigate to the Operation Preview dialog. This capability provides you with the ability to run the Operation directly from the Administrator. Select the run button from the Preview window. If the Operation does not run successfully an error message will be returned, use the Help button from the error message dialog to determine possible causes.

Note: This capability does runs the Operation through the Administrator not the Executive Server. It is provided to help assure that syntax for the Operation is correct so that it is more likely to run correctly when the Executive Server does the processing. There are security and environmental difference between the Administrator and the Executive Server when the Executive Server is run as service under Windows.

Execute An Operation On Demand

You can execute an Operation on demand (that is, have the Executive Server run other Operation now) by right-clicking on the Operation in the list and selecting the Execute menu item.  You can view the Executive Server's progress by viewing the Status list.  If the Status list is not displayed, display it by clicking on the Status node in the tree view.