Overview

A number of commands are available on the Activity Monitor and the Task Instances list that allow you to intervene in task processing where needed. Some commands are applicable only to certain task types and others are appropriate only when the task is in a particular status. In addition, commands require appropriate permissions.

Issuing Commands Against Task Instances

You can issue commands against task instances from:

• Activity Monitor
• Task Instances list (and the Task Instances list for a specific task)
• Workflow Monitor.

See Commands Supported for Task Instance Statuses for a list of task instances (and their statuses) for which these commands can be issued.

See Task Instance Status Types for a description of each type of task instance status.
 

Issuing Commands from the Activity Monitor

Issue a Command Against a Single Task Instance

Either:

• Right-click a task instance on the list to display an Action menu of available commands for that task instance.
• Click the Details icon of a task instance to display the Task Instance Details, and then right-click in the Details to display an Action menu of available commands for that task instance.

Issue a Command Against Multiple Task Instances

Press Ctrl and right-click each task instance that you want to issue a command against to display an Action menu of available commands that can be issued against all of the selected task instances.

(You also can press Ctrl and right-click a single task instance and then press Shift and right-click another task instance to select the group of task instances between the first and second task instance, inclusive.)

Issuing Commands from the Task Instances List

Issue a Command Against a Single Task Instance

Either:

• Right-click a task instance to display an Action menu of available commands for that task instance.
• Click a task instance to display the Task Instance Details below the list, or click the Details icon to display a Details pop-up for the task instance, and then right-click in the Details to display an Action menu of available commands for that task instance.

Issue a Command Against Multiple Task Instances

Press Ctrl and right-click each task instance that you want to issue a command against to display an Action menu of available commands that can be issued against all of the selected task instances.

(You also can press Ctrl and right-click a single task instance and then press Shift and right-click another task instance to select the group of task instances between the first and second task instance, inclusive.)

Issuing Commands from the Workflow Monitor

From the Workflow Monitor, you can issue a command against a single task instance within the workflow or against the workflow task instance itself.

Command Confirmation

If you want to receive a confirmation message after issuing a command but before the command is performed, set the System Default Confirm Task Instance Commands Universal Controller system property to Yes (the default is No).

For example:

Issue a Command Against a Task Instance within the Workflow

For example:
 

Issue a Command Against the Workflow Task Instance

For example:
 

Commands Supported for Task Instance Statuses

The following table identifies all possible task instance statuses, the task types they are valid for, and the commands that you can issue against a task instance in each status.

For a description of each status, see Task Instance Status Types.

For a description of each command, see Issuing Commands Against Task Instances.

For details and instructions on issuing these commands, see the specific section (below) on this page.

Agent-Based Task Types

The following task types are Agent-based task types:

• Linux/Unix
• Windows
• IBM i
• z/OS
• Universal Command
• SAP
• PeopleSoft
• File Transfer
• Agent File Monitor
• Remote File Monitor
• System Monitor
• z/OS Monitor
• Universal

Manually Launching a Task

Two methods are available for manually launching a task:

• From a tasks list
• From task Details

Launch One or More Tasks from a Tasks List

Launch a Task from Task Details

Launch a Task Manually with Temporary Variable Values

The Controller supports a Launch with Variables feature that allows you to quickly provide values for the variables specified in the task and launch it. All task types support the Launch with Variables feature.

(In the following procedure, the task is a Workflow already set up with variables where required.)

To launch a task using Launch with Variables:
 

Variable Resolution

If the Task Field Resolution Required Universal Controller system property is set to true, and there is a variable in a resolvable field - such as Command, Script, Parameters (including z/OS Parameters), and Environment Variables - that is unresolved at runtime, the task will transition to Start Failure.

A resolution check is not performed for variables used in the following places:

1. Workflow Task

2. Notification

3. PeopleSoft Task: Run Time Parameters

4. Stored Procedure Task: Stored Procedure Parameters

5. Email Template

6. Email Monitor: Advanced Criteria

7. Abort Action

8. Set Variable Action

9. Wait/Delay Options

10. Recurring Task: Override Variables

Launch a Task Using Unsaved Modifications

When you select to launch a task, a dialog displays that ask you to confirm that task that you want to launch:

You also can launch a task that you have modified without saving the modifications.

When you select to launch a modified but unsaved task (single task only), the confirmation dialog specifies that you are about to launch a task with unsaved modifications:

Changing the Priority of a Task Instance

You can change the priority of a task instance so that it will run sooner or later, as described below.

The priority specified here is meaningful only in relation to the priority setting of other tasks sent to that Agent from the same Controller instance.

You can change the priority of a Linux/Unix, Universal, Windows, or z/OS task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Started, Running, Queued.

Two methods are available for changing the priority of a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor

Set Priority on a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Set Priority on a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Re-running a Task Instance

If a task instance is part of a Workflow, you can re-run the task instance as long as the task instance and the Workflow have not been deleted.

If a task instance is not part of a Workflow, you can re-run the task instance as long as the task instance has not been been deleted.

To qualify for re-run, a task instance must be in one of the following statuses: Success, Start Failure, Failed, Cancelled, Finished.

Additionally, you can re-run a task instance in the In Doubt status if the Allow In Doubt Re-run Universal Controller system property is set to true.

To suppress intermediate failures during a manual re-run, use Re-run (Suppress Intermediate Failures) instead of Re-run.

Typically, you can re-run multiple task instances; however, task instances in the In Doubt status must be re-run one instance at a time.

You can re-run a task even if it already is scheduled for automatic retry. The retry attempt counts as one of the scheduled retries.

When you re-run a task instance, the Controller uses the same task instance. That is, the new task instance has the same sys_id. However, you can view the two task instances distinctly on the History list (one for each time it ran).

Two methods are available for re-running a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Suppressing Intermediate Failures

If a task instance is in the Failed status following the usage of Re-run (Suppress Intermediate Failures), the following will be suppressed.

• All Actions (Abort, Email Notification, Set Variable, SNMP Notification, and System Operation) defined for the task instance on a Failed status.
• Workflow conditional path processing; any Successors waiting on a failure path will not be released.
• Task Monitors will not be notified of the Failed status. Also, any Task Monitor task that has a Time Scope in the past will disqualify any matching task instance in the past with a Failed status resulting from Re-run (Suppress Intermediate Failures).
• Any Workflow containing the Failed task instance will not transition to the Running/Problems status.

Re-run a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Re-run a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Re-run a z/OS Task Instance in the In Doubt Status

If a z/OS task instance is in the In Doubt status, re-running the task instance will re-submit it from the beginning, which is equivalent to performing an Insert Task of the same task into the Workflow except, in this case, the UUID will not change.

If you choose to re-run a z/OS task instance from an In Doubt status, a confirmation pop-up displays to make sure that you are aware that the task instance will be re-submitted from the beginning.
 

Cancelling a Task Instance

The Cancel command cancels a running task instance.

You can cancel a task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Queued, Action Required, Started, Running.

If the task instance is part of a Workflow, you also can Cancel the task instance if the task instance is re-run after the Workflow completes.

For tasks that run on Agents, including Windows, Linux, Unix, z/OS, FTP, Agent File Monitor, and Universal Command tasks, the Cancel command is sent to the Agent.

• If the task instance has not yet been launched, it does not launch.
• If the task instance already has been launched, the Agent cancels it, if possible.
• If the task instance is a Workflow, any of its task instances in Running status go to Cancelled status; the Workflow itself goes to Running/Problems status.
• If the task instance is in a Workflow, the Workflow goes to Running/Problems status. If the task is re-run, the Workflow returns to Running status.

Two methods are available for cancelling a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)
   

Cancel a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Cancel a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Force Finishing a Task Instance

The Force Finish command puts a task instance into the Finished status, regardless of what the task instance is doing.

You can Force Finish a task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Defined, Waiting, Held, Resource Wait, Queued, Action Required, Started, Running, Cancel Pending, In Doubt, Failure to Start, Cancelled, Failed.

If the task instance is part of a Workflow, you also can Force Finish the task instance if the task instance is re-run after the Workflow completes.

Although Force Finish sets the status of a task instance to Finished, the associated process (if any) will continue to run. For example, when force finishing a Windows task, the process will not be canceled by the agent and will continue to run until completion.

One purpose of Force Finish is to allow successor task instances in a workflow to launch without waiting for the current task instance to complete. You also may want to Force Finish a stand-alone task instance; for example, you may want to mark a failed job as Finished, rather than rerunning the job.

If a task instance is running when the user issues a Force Finish, the Controller marks the task instance as Finished even though the actual process continues running. Two exceptions are the Agent File Monitor and Remote File Monitor; for these task types, the monitoring processes are aborted by a Force Finish command. Assuming they have no other dependencies, all successor task instances waiting for successful completion of this task instance will start.

When you issue a Force Finish against a Workflow, the Workflow and any of its tasks that are not already in Success, Finished, or Skipped status will go to Finished status.

Two methods are available for Force Finishing a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Force Finish a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Force Finish a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Force Finishing (Halt) a Task Instance

Just as with the Force Finish command, the Force Finish (Halt) command puts a task instance into the Finished status, regardless of what the task instance is doing.

You can Force Finish (Halt) a task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Defined, Waiting, Held, Resource Wait, Queued, Action Required, Started, Running, Cancel Pending, In Doubt, Failure to Start, Cancelled, Failed.

If the task instance is part of a Workflow, you also can Force Finish (Halt) the task instance if the task instance is re-run after the Workflow completes.

However, Force Finish (Halt) prevents successor task instances in a Workflow from being run. Those tasks will not run until you re-run the task against which you had executed Force Finish (Halt).

Although Force Finish sets the status of a task instance to Finished, the associated process (if any) will continue to run. For example, when force finishing a Windows task, the process will not be canceled by the agent and will continue to run until completion.

If a task instance is running when the user issues a Force Finish (Halt), the Controller marks the task instance as Finished even though the actual process continues running. Two exceptions are the Agent File Monitor and Remote File Monitor; for these task types, the monitoring processes are aborted by a Force Finish (Halt) command. All successor task instances waiting for successful completion of this task instance will remain in Waiting status.

Similarly, task monitors are not released if a Force Finish (Halt) is executed against a task being monitored.
 

Two methods are available for Force Finishing (Halt) a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Force Finish (Halt) a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Force Finish (Halt) a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Force Finish/Cancelling a Task Instance

The Force Finish/Cancel command cancels a task instance and puts it into Finished status, regardless of what the task instance is doing.

You can Force Finish/Cancel a task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Queued, Action Required, Started, Running.

If the task instance is part of a Workflow, you also can Force Finish/Cancel the task instance if the task instance is re-run after the Workflow completes.

Force Finish/Cancel sets the status of a task instance to Finished and cancels the associated process (if any).

One purpose of Force Finish/Cancel is to cancel a task instance and allow successor task instances in a Workflow to launch without waiting for that task instance to complete. You also may want to Force Finish/Cancel a stand-alone task instance; for example, you may want to mark a failed job as Finished, rather than rerunning the job.

For tasks that run on Agents, including Windows, Linux, Unix, z/OS, FTP, Agent File Monitor, and Universal Command tasks, the Force Finish/Cancel command is sent to the Agent.

• If the task instance has not yet been launched, it does not launch.
• If a task instance is running when the user issues a Force Finish/Cancel command, the Agent cancels the task instance, if possible, and then the Controller marks the task instance as Finished; processing does not continue. Assuming they have no other dependencies, all successor task instances waiting for successful completion of this task instance will start.
• If the task instance is a workflow, any eligible task instances in the workflow are cancelled and set to the Finished status, and then the workflow itself is set to the Finished status.

Two methods are available for Force Finish/Cancelling a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Force Finish/Cancel a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor

Force Finish/Cancel a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Force Finish/Cancelling (Halt) a Task Instance

Just as with the Force Finish/Cancel command, the Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) command cancels a task instance and puts it into Finished status, regardless of what the task instance is doing.

If the task instance is part of a Workflow, you also can Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) the task instance if the task instance is re-run after the Workflow completes.

Force Finish/Cancel sets the status of a task instance to Finished and cancels the associated process (if any).

However, Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) prevents successor task instances in a Workflow from being run. Those tasks will not run until you re-run the task against which you had executed Force Finish/Cancel (Halt).

Task monitors are not released if a Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) is executed against a task being monitored.

You can Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) a task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Queued, Action Required, Started, Running.

For tasks that run on Agents, including Windows, Linux, Unix, z/OS, FTP, Agent File Monitor, and Universal Command tasks, the Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) command is sent to the Agent.

• If the task instance has not yet been launched, it does not launch.
• If a task instance is running when the user issues a Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) command, the Agent cancels the task instance, if possible, and then the Controller marks the task instance as Finished; processing does not continue. All successor task instances waiting for successful completion of this task instance remain in Waiting status.
• If the task instance is a workflow, any eligible task instances in the workflow are cancelled and set to the Finished status, and then the workflow itself is set to the Finished status.
   

Two methods are available for Force Finish/Cancelling (Halt) a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor

Force Finish/Cancel (Halt) a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Putting a Task Instance on Hold

If you put a Workflow on hold that has not yet started, the Workflow and all the task instances in it are put on hold.

If you put a Workflow on hold when it is in Running status, all the task instances within the Workflow that have not yet started are put on hold; however, the Workflow itself does not go to Hold status because it already has started.

To release the Workflow and all of its task instances that are on hold, issue the Release Recursive command against the Workflow.

To release the Workflow but keep the task instances on hold until you release them one by one, use Release on the Workflow first, then use Release on each task instance.

You can put a task instance on hold while it is in any of the following statuses: Defined, Waiting, Resource Wait, Queued.

Two methods are available for putting a task instance on hold:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Hold a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Hold a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Releasing a Task Instance from Hold

For Workflows, if the user held a Workflow that already was running, only the task instances within the Workflow that had not started yet are put into Held status. In this case, the Workflow itself does not go to Held status.

You can release a non-Workflow task instance from hold from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list while it is in the following status: Held.

To release the Workflow, use one of the following commands:

• To release the entire held Workflow and its task instances, use Release Recursive.
• To release a Workflow that is not in Held status but has task instances that are in Held status, use Release Recursive. In this case, you can issue Release Recursive on a Workflow in any of the following statuses: Defined, Waiting, Held, Resource Wait, Running.
• To release the Workflow but keep the task instances inside on hold so that you can release them one by one, use Release. In this case, release the Workflow first, then release each task instance manually.

Two methods are available for releasing a task instance from hold:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

Release a Held Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Release a Held Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Skipping a Task Instance

You can skip a task instance or a task instance path so that the task instance and all of its dependent task instances automatically are skipped as well.

You can skip any task instance as long as it has not yet started running; that is, while it is in any of the following statuses: Defined, Waiting, Held, Resource Requested, Resource Wait.

Two methods are available for skipping a task instance:

• From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
• From the Workflow Monitor (if the task instance is running as part of a Workflow)

If you skip a Workflow task instance, all the task instances within the Workflow also are skipped, along with any nested Workflows.

Once a task instance has been skipped, the only command you can run against it is Unskip.

Skip a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Skip a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Showing or Hiding Skipped Task Instances

You can select whether to show or hide skipped task instances on the Workflow Monitor either:

• Before the Workflow is running
• While the Workflow is running

Three methods are available for selecting whether or not to show or hide skipped task instances:

• From the Workflow Task Details
• From the Workflow Task Instance Details
• From the Workflow Monitor

Setting Show / Hide Skipped Tasks from the Workflow Task Details

Setting Show / Hide Skipped Tasks from the Workflow Task Instance Details

Setting Show / Hide Skipped Tasks from the Workflow Monitor

Open the Workflow task instance in the Workflow Monitor. By default, the Workflow Monitor will show or hide skipped task instances based on the Workflow task instance's Show / Hide Skipped Tasks option.

To temporarily change the behavior, right-click in the Workflow Monitor canvas and select either of the following entries from the pop-up menu:

• Show Skipped / Restore
• Hide Skipped

Unskipping a Task Instance

If a task instance in a Workflow has been skipped (perhaps at trigger time due to run criteria or manually by running the skip command), you can unskip that task instance while the Workflow is running.

Two methods are available for unskipping a task instance:

1. From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
2. From the Workflow Monitor

Unskip a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Unskip a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Marking a Dependency as Satisfied

For task instances running inside of a Workflow, you can mark a single predecessor dependency as satisfied to allow the task instance to run.

Marking a dependency as satisfied has the same result as clearing a dependency.

You can mark a dependency as satisfied on task instances in the following status: Defined, Waiting, Held.

One method is available for marking a dependency as satisfied:

• From the Workflow Monitor

Marking a Dependency as Satisfied from the Workflow Monitor

Evaluating a Dependency

For task instances running inside of a Workflow, you can evaluate a variable condition dependency. 

When the Evaluate Edge command is executed, an Evaluate dialog pops up and display the First Value, First Value(resolved), Operator, Second Value, Second Value(resolved), and the Evaluation result.

One method is available for evaluating a dependency:

• From the Workflow Monitor

Evaluating a Variable Condition Dependency from the Workflow Monitor

Clearing Predecessor Dependencies of a Task Instance

For a task instance running inside of a Workflow, you can clear all predecessor dependencies to allow that task instance to run. Clearing a predecessor dependency has the same result as satisfying a predecessor dependency.

You can clear predecessor dependencies of a task instance while it is in any of the following statuses: Defined, Waiting, Held.

One method is available for clearing predecessor dependencies of a task instance:

• From the Workflow Monitor

Clearing Predecessor Dependencies of a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Clearing Resource Dependencies of a Task Instance

For task instances for which resources have been defined, you can clear those resource dependencies.

You can clear resource dependencies of task instances while it is in the following status: Resource Wait.

Two methods are available for clearing resource dependencies from task instances:

1. From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
2. From the Workflow Monitor

Clear Resource Dependencies of a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Clear Resource Dependencies of a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Clearing Mutually Exclusive Dependencies of a Task Instance

For task instances that are mutually exclusive with other task instances, you can clear those mutually exclusive dependencies.

Any task instances that were mutually exclusive with this task instance will no longer be mutually exclusive.

You can clear mutually exclusive dependencies of a task instance while it is in the following status: Exclusive Wait.

Two methods are available for clearing mutually exclusive dependencies from task instances:

1. From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
2. From the Workflow Monitor

Clear Mutually Exclusive Dependencies of a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Clear Mutually Exclusive Dependencies of a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Clearing All Dependencies of a Task Instance

You can clear all dependencies (time wait/delay, predecessors, resources, and exclusive) to allow a task instance to run.

You can clear all dependencies of a task instance while it is in any the following status: Defined, Waiting, Held, Exclusive Requested, Exclusive Wait, Resource Requested, Resource Wait.

Three methods are available for clearing all dependencies of a task instance:

1. From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
2. From the Workflow Monitor (for a task instance within the Workflow)
3. From the Workflow Monitor (for the Workflow itself)

If you issue a Clear All Dependencies command against a Workflow task instance, all dependencies of only the Workflow task instance are cleared, not the dependencies of any of its task instances.

Clear All Dependencies of a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Clear All Dependencies of a Task Instance within a Workflow from the Workflow Monitor

Clear All Dependencies of a Workflow Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Clearing Time Wait/Delay Specifications of a Task Instance

You can clear all Wait To Start and Delay On Start specifications of a task instance to allow a task instance to run without waiting.

You can clear all Wait To Start and Delay On Start specifications of a task instance while it is in any the following status: Defined, Waiting, Time Wait, Held.

Three methods are available for clearing Time Wait/Delay specifications of task instances:

1. From the Activity Monitor or Task Instances list
2. From the Workflow Monitor
3. From the task instance Details

Clear All Time Wait/Delay Specifications of a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Clear All Time Wait/Delay Specifications of a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Clear All Time Wait/Delay Specifications of a Task Instance from the Task Instance Details

Clearing Previous Instance Wait Specifications of a Task Instance

You can clear all Previous Instance Wait Specifications of a task instance to allow a task instance to run without waiting.

You can only clear Previous Instance Wait Specifications of a task instance if it is in Instance Wait status.

Clear Previous Instance Wait Specifications of a Task Instance from the Activity Monitor or Task Instances List

Clear Previous Instance Wait Specifications of a Task Instance from the Workflow Monitor

Clear Previous Instance Wait Specifications of a Task Instance from the Task Instance Details