Key Processing Concepts

To effectively use MOVEit Automation it is important to understand how both traditional and advanced task files are processed when moving from a source to a destination.

Traditional tasks

Traditional tasks pull files from sources and push them to destinations according to schedules and can use processes to run scripts.

When a task copies files from a source, the files are placed on the MOVEit Automation server’s disk, in a location know as the 'cache' before being copied to the destination. If there are multiple sources, the files from each source are placed in the cache before any scripts are run or files are copied to the destination.

While the files are in the cache, processes defined in the task are run. Processes can be run 'Once After All Downloads' or 'Per File'.

• Once After All Downloads – the script associated with the process will execute after all files from all sources are copied to the cache but before any 'Per File' processes are run or before any files are copied to a destination.
• Per File - the script associated with the process will execute once for every file that is in the cache. All processing, movement, and secure deletion of the current file is completed before the next file in the cache is processed.

Process scripts can perform anything permitted by VBScript or PowerShell. Most importantly, they allow easy methods of interacting with the files being moved by the task. For example, you can add files to the cache, modify the file data, delete files from the cache before they are copied to the destination, or dynamically change the destination of the file.

After a file is copied to the destination, the cached version of the file is securely deleted. At this point, the next file in the cache is considered for processing and movement to a destination. This will continue until the cache is empty.

Advanced tasks

Advanced tasks are not as rigidly ordered and offer more flexibility than Traditional tasks. Advanced tasks pull files from sources and push them to destinations according to schedules and can use processes to run scripts. They can also provide conditional processing (IF) and include task loops (FOR).

Elements are processed from top to bottom; therefore, sources are almost always placed near the beginning of a task and are not placed in a file loop.

Processes can be placed anywhere in an Advanced task. If they are placed outside of a file loop, they will not be used to process each file, but are usually used either near the beginning of the task to set up the environment, or near the end of the task to perform clean up actions

• File loop: Processes placed in a file loop are equivalent to 'Per File' processes in a Traditional task. The process runs one on each file in the cache.
• Conditional (If-Else-Otherwise): Processes placed in a conditional branch are often used to perform a custom action on a file that has met the condition of that branch, such as its name, size, or age.

When the Advanced task is completed, the cached version of the files are securely deleted unless they had already been deleted earlier in the task via an explicit step.