Schedules
The Schedule Management summarizes all tasks from a Schedule's perspective. Logged in users may deploy, create, edit and remove Schedules here. All these options are callable either via the toolbar or the context menu opened by right-clicking Schedules (table row). Several toolbar buttons or context menu items are disabled by default, but enabled if at least one Schedule is selected.
A Schedule encapsulates any number of Workflows and is used to deploy these Workflows to one or more Robots. Conversely, a Workflow may be associated with any number of Schedules. As a Workflow specifies the transaction steps to be processed by a robot, a Schedule specifies the execution of Workflows encapsulated - e.g. Workflow's revision and maximum runtime, execution mode (desktop or hidden / Secure Session), execution interval (e.g. "every five minutes"), etc.
Due to Control Center's multitenancy, Schedules are assigned to a specific Customer. System Users may transfer Schedules to a Customer, but not vice versa. In the Schedule Management's overview, logged-in standard users view Schedules of their own Customers only; whereas System Users only view Schedules of the Customer currently specified by Customer Switch.
Please note: The following Schedule Management description differentiates between System Users and standard users due to varying menus and options depending on the type of logged-in user.
The left section of the Schedule Management view shows the Control Center's sub menus with the current view marked as selected. The center view contains a table listing all Schedules and a subset of their properties. Each Schedule may be expanded to show the encapsulated Workflows. The list of Schedules supports multi-selection. The table's status bar shows the total number of Schedules and the number of Schedules currently selected. If only one Schedule is selected, the right section Schedule Details provides all its detailed properties.
The lower section shows several tabs containing Schedule related information. These tabs are refreshable only, if at least one Schedule is selected.
Multitenancy
Due to Control Center's multitenancy, two Schedule types exist: standard Schedules and System Schedules. Standard Schedules are managed by standard users and System Schedules are managed by System Users. Standard users view Schedules of their assigned Customers only; whereas System Users view Schedules of the Customer currently specified by the Customer Switch. Schedules associated with the System context [System] are called System Schedules and may be managed by system users only.
To guarantee multitenancy, standard Schedules contain only Workflows associated with the same Customer; whereas System Schedules may contain System Workflows and standard Workflows of arbitrary Customers as well.
This special functionality of System Schedules was implemented to support service providers typically using several System Users to manage the Control Center. Providers may offer the scheduling of Workflows created and managed by their Customers as a service. To do this, providers may schedule Customer Workflows within System Schedules. Due to multitenancy, these System Schedules will not be visible to their Customers (which are standard users with respect to ServiceTrace® Central Server). Thus the scheduling of Customer Workflows is under the provider's control.
Menu
The Schedule Management view's toolbar and context menu differ depending on the type of logged-in user. Standard login users need to own privileges to access several menu items. If standard logged-in users do not own the privileges required, respective menu items will not be shown in the toolbar or context menu. In a System User login context menus vary depending on the Customer currently selected by Customer Switch. The differences are explained by the respective menu item.
Refresh
User/System User
Clicking Refresh refreshes the list of Schedules. The
table's status bar shows a time stamp of the last refresh and thus gives information about the currentness of Schedule
data.
Deploy
User
To enable this menu item and perform the deployment of selected Schedules to
Robots of the same Customer, at least one Schedule has to be selected. Clicking Deploy opens a wizard guiding
users through the deployment process. The Schedule deployment will be automatically scheduled as a task for the
respective Robot; thus the deployment process may take some time. Users may view the task's state within the Robot
management's Tasks tab.
To perform this operation, standard users must own the privilege Schedules Deploy.
System User
In a System User context the deployment of Schedules is carried out as
in a standard user context. The automatically created Schedule operates in the context of the Customer currently specified
by Customer Switch. If[System] is selected by Customer Switch, selected Schedules may be deployed to
System Robots only.
Execute
User / System User
To enable this menu item and perform the one-time execution of a Schedule one single Schedule has to be selected.
To perform this operation, standard users must own the privilege Schedules Deploy.
Otherwise the following message is displayed:
- Alerting
- Reporting
Clicking Execute opens a window for choosing the Robot which should execute the Schedule.
- Robot version 4.5.0 or higher
- Scheduler enabled
- State OK
After choosing the Robot you can watch the execution of the Schedule in Servicetrace TV:
Create
User
This menu item is used to create a new Schedule automatically assigned to the
logged-in user's Customer. The creation of a new Schedule does not depend on the Schedule selected. Clicking Create
opens a wizard will guide the user through the process of creating a new Schedule.
To perform this operation,
standard users must own the privilege Schedules Create / Edit.
System User
This menu item is used to create a new Schedule or System Schedule
automatically assigned to the Customer currently selected by Customer Switch. The creation of a new Schedule does
not depend on Schedules selected. If[System] is selected by Customer Switch, a System Schedule will be
created. Clicking Create opens a wizard guiding users through the process of creating a new Schedule.
Edit
User/System User
To enable this menu item and perform the modification, one single
Schedule has to be selected. After selecting this menu item, a wizard will guide the user through the process of
modifying the selected Schedule.
To perform this operation, standard users must own the privilege Schedules Create / Edit. If the respective Schedule is already deployed to Robots, the user
must own the privilege Schedules Deploy as well.
Remove
User/System User
To enable this menu item and perform the removal, at least one
Schedule has to be selected. Clicking Remove opens a wizard guiding users through the process of removing
Schedules selected. Please note that only Schedules not currently deployed to a robot may be removed.
To perform
this operation, standard users must own the privilege Schedules Delete.
Copy Copy
User/System User
To enable this menu item and perform the copying, one single
Schedule has to be selected first. Clicking Copy opens a message box for copy confirmation.
To perform
this operation standard users must own the privilege Schedules Create / Edit.
Copy Multiple Copy
User/System User
To enable this menu item and perform the multiple copying, one single
Schedule has to be selected first. Clicking Multiple Copy opens a message box for copy configuration and confirmation.
To
perform
this operation standard users must own the privilege Schedules Create / Edit.
Customer Transfer Schedule
User
Standard users are not allowed to manage System resources; therefore the menu
item Transfer Schedule is not visible for standard users.
System User
Only System Users may transfer System Schedules to arbitrary Customers;
therefore the menu item Transfer Schedule is enabled only for System Users in the System context. System
Schedules transferred to Customers turn into standard (Customer) Schedules and disappear from the current System view.
Clicking Transfer Schedule opens a wizard guiding users through the process of transferring the selected System Schedules.
Schedule Log Tab
The Schedule Log tab shows a revision history of all deployed versions of the Schedules selected.
Menu
The revision history supports the following menu.
Refresh
User/System User
This menu item is enabled, if at least one Schedule is selected,
and is used to refresh the revision log of the Schedules selected. To reflect the currentness of the revision log the
table's status bar shows the time stamp of the last refresh.
Deployed to Robot Tab
The Deployed to Robot tab shows all Robots the selected Schedules are deployed to.
Menu
The Deployed to Robot tab supports the following menu.
Refresh
User/System User
This menu item is enabled, if at least one Schedule is selected,
and is used to refresh the list of Robots the selected Schedules are deployed to. The table's status bar shows the time
stamp of the last refresh, providing information about the currentness of the list of Robots.
Release Schedule
User/System User
To enable this menu item and perform the release, at least one
deployed Schedule has to be selected. Clicking Release Schedule opens a message box for the confirmation of the
release of selected Schedules from respective Robots.
To perform this operation, standard users must own the
privilege Robot Edit.
Details View
This view shows details of one Schedule. Left-clicking a Schedule name within the list of Schedules opens its detailed view. Selectable Schedule names will be highlighted when hovered. The properties shown within the detailed view depend on the logged in user's type (System User or standard user). Moreover, the properties shown to system users depend on the Customer currently selected by Customer Switch.
In the left section of the detailed view a quick-selection Schedule menu allows users to select another Schedule. The list of Schedule names can be reduced / filtered by means of the text field.
Besides the Schedule's Details (description, execution and recurrence settings, etc.) the detailed view contains two additional Schedule views: Schedule Log showing the Schedule's revision history and Deployed to Robot listing the Robots the Schedule is deployed to.
The details view is implemented as a portal - i.e. the small windows (also called portlets) may be rearranged by drag & drop as required. Clicking the small arrow in the right upper section minimizes the portlets.
The logged in user's type and, in case of a System User, the currently selected Customer determine the detailed view's content. This is true for the menu as well. Please refer above for a detailed description of each menu item.