Tasks functions

Tasks in the Task Manager

The task manager is an application included in IBM Content Navigator which processes and runs asynchronous tasks. IBM Enterprise Records uses the task manager to run Cognos® reporting, basic sweep tasks, and to convert categories to use basic schedules.

Users can access the task manager through the Open Task View pane. The Open Task View pane brings up a navigation tree on the side of the window with a content list in the middle. On the navigation tree, you see a number of categories that help filter the existing tasks that are displayed in the content list.

Access

If the Open Task View pane is missing, you might have insufficient permissions, or the feature is unable to connect to the task manager application. Check that all the configuration and installation requirements of the task manager are completed.

If you are not in either role, you are not able to access the Open Task View pane. See the IBM Content Navigator documentation for the Task Manager to see how to add users to one of the roles.

Scheduling tasks

For every task that you are able to schedule on the Open Task View pane, you are presented with a scheduler pane in one of the steps. You can schedule a task by entering the name, description, scheduled start time, and whether you want it to recur. You must enter login information if you set your task to occur later. You must enter login information if the current repository you are logged in to is not in the same IBM FileNet® P8 domain as the repository you are operating on in your task.

Task States

After a task is scheduled, it enters the In-Progress state. You can refresh the task by right-clicking the task and selecting refresh or refreshing the entire list by clicking Refresh in the action bar. If a task completes, it is in the Completed state. After a task is in the Completed state, view the results of the task. You can view the results by opening the task or by selecting the task and looking at the Results tab.

If a task fails, it enters the Failed state, and you can find the error message in the error tab. If you have setup a log directory for the task manager in the administration view of the IBM Enterprise Records administration client, you can view dedicated logs of each task in that directory on the web application server.

A task information pane is presented when you click a task. You can view general information, parameters entered, errors that are generated if available, and results if available.

Recurring tasks

A recurring task is a single task with many task instances runs. For a recurring task, you see a task instances tab that lists all the runs of that particular task. If you open a recurring task, it is opened in the content list, and the list of the task instances is also displayed. You can then select each task instance and view the information and results for that instance.

For a recurring task, you can also disable the task from running by right-clicking and selecting Disable in the menu. After the task is disabled, the task does not run in its next allocated time slot. Tasks remain disabled until the recurring task is re-enabled. When you re-enable a task by selecting Enable in the menu, the recurring task resumes and runs on its next allocated time slot.

Modifying a task

Only tasks that are already scheduled to run or that fail can be modified. You can modify the parameters that you entered during the initial run, such as the user name and password. You can also modify any other parameters that you entered as part of running the task. Depending on the type of task, the fields that can be changed are limited. The user interface enables or disables what can be modified. You are not able to modify the schedule of the task, such as when it runs or when it recurs. After it is scheduled, a task can run only on that schedule. If you must modify the schedule, delete the existing task and create a new task.

After you modify a task, the task runs again on its next allocated time slot. If a single occurrence task failed, it runs immediately.

Deleting tasks

You can delete a task at any time by accessing the Delete option in the menu. You can also multi-select multiple tasks and delete them all. To improve performance, delete or fix tasks that you might not need anymore.