Manual Task
- Stonebranch (Deactivated)
Overview
Manual tasks are used to create a pause in a Workflow during which the user must take some action.
The processing of a Manual task within a Workflow is described here:
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Step 1 |
While its upstream tasks are running, a Manual task instance remains in WAITING status. When the Manual task instance launches, it goes immediately into ACTION REQUIRED status, meaning you must perform some manual activity. Universal Controller also sets the Started Time in the Manual task instance to the time that the task instance went into the ACTION REQUIRED status. |
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Step 2 |
Optionally, you can re-set the Started Time of the Manual task by issuing the Set Started command. Either:
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Step 3 |
When you have completed the activities called for in the Manual task, you must indicate that the task is completed and that the Workflow can continue. Either:
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Step 4 |
The Manual task goes into SUCCESS status, the End Time is set, and the Workflow continues. |
Note
You also can set a Manual task to STARTED or COMPLETED status from the Command Line Interface (CLI).
Built-In Variables
The following built-in variables can be used in a Manual task to pass data where appropriate:
Creating a Manual Task
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Step 1 |
From the Automation Center navigation pane, select Tasks > Manual Tasks. The Manual Tasks list displays a list of all currently defined Manual tasks. |
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Step 2 |
Enter/select Details for a new Manual task, using the field descriptions below as a guide.
To display more of the Details fields on the screen, you can either:
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Step 3 |
Click a |
Note
To open an existing record on the list, either:
- Click a record in the list to display its record Details below the list. (To clear record Details below the list, click the New button that displays above and below the Details.)
- Clicking the Details icon next to a record name in the list, or right-click a record in the list and then click Open in the Action menu that displays, to display a pop-up version of the record Details.
- Right-click a record in the a list, or open a record and right-click in the record Details, and then click Open In Tab in the Action menu that displays, to display the record Details under a new tab on the record list page (see Record Details as Tabs).
Manual Task Details
The following Manual Task Details is for an existing Manual task.
Depending on the values that you enter / select for these fields, and whether or not the Manual task has ever been launched, more (or less) fields may display. See the field descriptions, below, for a description of all fields that may display in the Manual Task Details.
Manual Task Field Descriptions
The following table describes the fields, buttons, and tabs that display in the Manual Task Details.
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Field Name |
Description |
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General |
This section contains general information about the task. |
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Name |
User-defined name of this task (Maximum = 255 alphanumeric characters); variables supported. It is the responsibility of the user to develop a workable naming scheme for tasks. |
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Version |
System-supplied; version number of the current record, which is incremented by the Controller every time a user updates a record. Click the Versions tab to view previous versions. For details, see Record Versioning. |
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Description |
Description of this record. Maximum length is 255 characters. |
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Member of Business Services |
User-defined; Allows you to select one or more Business Services that this record belongs to. (You also can Check All or Uncheck All Business Services for this record.) You can select up to 62 Business Services for any record type, and enter a maximum of 2048 characters for each Business Service. If the Business Service Visibility Restricted Universal Controller system property is set to true, depending on your assigned (or inherited) Permissions or Roles, Business Services available for selection may be restricted. |
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Resolve Name Immediately |
If enabled, the Instance Name of the task instance will be resolved immediately at trigger/launch time. |
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Time Zone Preference |
User-defined; Allows you to specify the time zone that will be applied to the task. Options:
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Hold on Start |
If enabled, when the task is launched it appears in the Activity Monitor with a status of Held. The task runs when the user releases it. |
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Hold Reason |
Information about why the task will be put on hold when it starts. |
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Virtual Resource Priority |
Priority for acquiring a resource when two or more tasks are waiting for the resource. This priority applies to all resources required by the task. Options: 1 (high) - 100 (low). Default is 10. |
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Hold Resources on Failure |
If enabled, the task instance will continue to hold Renewable resources if the task instance fails. Renewable resources will be returned only if the task instance status is either Complete, Finished, or Skipped. |
| Mutually Exclusive With Self |
If enabled, the task will not be allowed to run concurrently with itself. Task will not start until the instance that is running finishes. An instance will transition to Exclusive Wait status if it cannot start due to another instance already running. |
| Simulate | Specifies if the instance should execute under simulation mode. |
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Wait / Delay Options |
This section contains specifications for waiting to start and/or delaying on start the task. |
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Wait To Start |
Amount of time to wait before starting a task from the time that it was launched.
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Wait Time |
If Wait To Start = Time or Relative Time; Time of day (in 24-hour time) to wait until before starting the task. |
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Wait Day Constraint |
If Wait To Start = Time or Relative Time; Specification for whether or not to advance the wait time to another day. Valid values:
Default is – None --. |
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Wait Duration |
If Wait To Start = Duration; Number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to wait before starting the task. |
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Wait Duration In Seconds |
If Wait To Start = Seconds; Number of seconds to wait before starting the task. |
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Delay On Start |
Amount of time to delay the start of a task, after it has been launched, from the time that it is eligible to start; that is, all dependencies have been met. For example: it is not being held, it is not waiting on any predecessors, or there is no wait time specified.
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Delay Duration |
If Delay On Start = Duration; Number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds to delay after starting the task. |
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Delay Duration In Seconds |
If Delay On Start = Seconds; Number of seconds to delay after starting the task. |
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Workflow Only |
Specification for whether or not to apply the Wait To Start and Delay On Start specifications only if the task is in a Workflow.
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Time Options |
This section contains time-related specifications for the task. |
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Late Start |
If enabled, and if the task instance starts after the time or period specified, the task instance is flagged as late. You can specify a time or duration to determine a late start (see Late Start Type). To determine whether a task instance started late, open the task instance and locate the Started Late field; the field is checked if the instance started after the specified time. The Started Late field displays in the task instance Details only if the user specified a Late Start in the task Details. |
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Late Start Type |
Required if Late Start is enabled. Options:
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Late Start Time |
If Late Start Type = Time; Time after which the task start time is considered late. Use HH:MM, 24-hour time. |
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Late Start Day Constraint |
If Late Start Type = Time; Specification for whether or not to advance the late start time to another day.
Default is – None --. |
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Late Start Nth Amount |
If Late Start Day Constraint = Nth Day; Number of days to advance. |
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Late Start Duration |
If Late Start Type = Duration; Duration (amount of relative time) after which the task is considered to have started late. For a task within a workflow, the duration is the period between the time the workflow starts and the time the task itself starts. For example, a task might have a Late Start Duration of 60 minutes. If the workflow starts at 9:00 a.m. but the task itself does not start until 10:30, the task has started late. For a task that is not within a workflow, Late Start Duration has me |