Adding a New Advanced Task

This topic describes how to add a new Advanced Task from scratch. There are many possible configurations of an Advanced Task, so this topic presents the general procedure for adding a new Advanced Task. A second way to create an Advanced Task is by converting a traditional task.

1. To add a new advanced task, go to the "Tasks" Tab and click the "Add Task ..." button. The Add New Task dialog opens.

   

2. Enter a name for the task, select the Advanced Task type, then click OK. The new task is added to the list of tasks (Task tab). This task is marked with a red X to indicate that it cannot yet be run.

   

3. To build out the advanced task, right-click the task name and select an element. For more information about the elements used in an advanced task, see the "Right-click menu options" section below.

   Note that the order and placement of a task element determines when it is processed. If you use a File Loop, the element needs to be within the File loop, if it is to be processed as part of the loop. The same is true for an If Block. To place an element in a loop or block, you can right-click the loop or block, then add the element. You can also use the various Move commands to move an element within the task.

   In the example below, the process and the destination are within the File Loop (shown by indenting the process and destination.

   

4. When you have the task structure in place, you can run the task to check that it is working the way you want. We suggest using test data for the first run, then checking the logs to see that the task is working as expected.

Right-click menu options

• Add Schedule - A schedule works the same as with a Traditional Task.
• Add Source - You can add a source in the same way that you would add it to a Traditional Task. Most of the time, after you add a source, you will add a File Loop to perform actions on each file in the list of source files.
• Add Process - A process works much the same as with a Traditional Task. The difference being that a process in an Advanced Task will run where it is located in the task. You will likely place a process within a File Loop to run the process for each source file. The Traditional Task options of "Run Per File" and "Run Once After All Downloads" are not available.
• Add Destination - Again, you add a Destination just as you would for a Traditional Task. However, you must put the destination in a File Loop so that it will process all of the files.
• Add File Loop - File Loops are used in Advanced Tasks for performing per-file actions like Processes and Destinations. The File Loop will run elements within it on each file in the existing list of source files.
• Add If Block - An If Block tests for one or more conditions, for example, for whether any source files exist, or for files of a specified type. In order for an If Block to process each file in a source list, the If Block needs to be within a File Loop.
  • Add Else If Branch - Within an If block, you can use an Else If branch to specify a second condition to be applied. For files in the source list that did not meet the preceding If condition, you can test for a different condition, then add a second process and/or destination for these files.
  • Add Else Branch - Within an If block, you can use an Else Branch to specify a second action to be run for any files (from the source list) that do not match the preceding If condition. For example, an Else Branch can contain a second process and/or destination.
• Add Delete/Rename Original - You can use the Delete/Rename Original element to either delete the source files, or rename the source files. If you select the Rename option, you can enter a file mask and/or macros to use when renaming the files.
• Add Email - The Email element can be placed anywhere in the task, including within a File Loop or If Block.
• Add Run Task - The Run Task element can run a second task anywhere within an Advanced Task. As with next Actions in Traditional Tasks, you can add task parameters that can be accessed by scripts and macros. See the Task Information page for more information.
• Edit commands - The various Edit commands will open a dialog that lets you make changes to the selected element.
• Remove commands - The Remove commands will remove the selected element, deleting it from the task. The Remove File Loop and Remove Entire If Block commands also remove any elements within the loop or block.
• Move commands - The Move commands provide an easy way to change the location of an element within the task.