Overview

See Also

• Task Plan
• 14 Creating Tasks and Task Plans

Creating a Task

1. In  task plan properties→ Tasks, click  Add New. 
2. Select one of the task types from the menu; see Types of Task, below.
3. PhixFlow opens a new task properties tab.
4. Enter a name in Basic Settings → Name.
5.  Apply.
6. Optionally set other properties and add streams; see Task Properties, below.

Types of Task

Analysis Tasks

Use an analysis task to run analysis on the stream(s) in the task. 

Rollback Tasks

Use a rollback task to effectively undo run analysis on a stream.  When you run a rollback task it rolls back all data in each of the listed streams, deleting the stream-sets. The list of stream sets is empty and there are no data records in the stream (tbc). For information about how to rollback streams manually, see Rollback.

Archive Tasks

Use an archive task to delete or archive stream data or stream sets that you no longer need in PhixFlow. Running an archive task on a large number of streams, or on a stream with a large data set can take some time. We recommend scheduling archiving tasks for times when the system is quiet, for example overnight.

Archive without specifying streams

You can create an archive task without adding any streams. This task will affect streams:

• that are not in another archive task
• and have archiving settings configured.

When you run the task, PhixFlow:

• deletes stream sets that are older than the specified archive settings in the stream
• creates a zip archive of all the stream sets within the specified archive settings in the stream.
  This is a single archive containing all the data from all the streams processed.

Archiving a specific stream

If you want to have separate zip files containing data for a specific stream, create an archive task and add only that stream. The stream must have Archive Settings.

You can create an archiving task for a specific stream or streams. For example, you might want to create a single archive for:

• data from several related streams
• a stream that contains a large amount of data  
• a stream that you want to be able to restore from the backup. This is easier when the data is in its own zip.

Finding the Archive file

When a stream is archived, PhixFlow logs information in the system console →  Archive Log. This includes information about the data archived and any archive file created. This is a single archive containing all the data from the streams processed.. Optionally, the archived data can be saved to a file. If this is done, the data can reloaded into PhixFlow using Restore Archive.

System Tasks

Use a system task to perform system-wide housekeeping activities. These include deleting:

• managed file entries
• email entries
• temporary files created by file exporters to send by email
• data from incomplete stream sets
• log messages and optionally archiving them.

The archiving periods, and whether to archive log messages before they are deleted, are controlled by the following parameters in System Configuration:

• Delete Log Messages After Days
• Archive Deleted Log Messages To File
• Delete Statistics After Days
• Delete Emails After Days

Task Properties

For information about the properties toolbar, and about the sections Parent Details, Analysis Models, Description and Audit Summary, see Common Properties.  We recommend you always add a Description that explains the purpose of the item you are creating. 

For a full list of all the PhixFlow property tabs and windows, see Properties, Windows, Menus and Toolbars.

Basic Settings

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the task.
Mandatory	Error rendering macro 'excerpt-include' : No link could be created for '_check_box_ticked'.  to specify that this task must succeed before attempting the next task in the task plan. _check_box_untick  Untick  to specify that, even if this task fails, the next task in the task plan can run.
Order	Specify the order that the task will be run in the task plan. For example, if there are a total of 4 tasks in the task plan, and you want this task to run third, enter 3.
Task Type	PhixFlow displays the type of this task, which can be: Analysis Task Archive Task Rollback Task System Task You select the task type when first add the task. This field is visible after the task is saved for the first time. You cannot change the task type.
Archive All	Available when Task Type = Archive Task. Error rendering macro 'excerpt-include' : No link could be created for '_check_box_ticked'.  to delete or archive data according to a stream's Archive Settings. This applies to all streams that are not listed in any archive task.  Untick to apply this task to one or more streams. Add the streams in the Streams section. To save an archive task, it must: either have this option ticked or have at least one stream.

Streams

This section is only available for analysis tasks and archive tasks. The grid shows the list of streams assigned to the task.

There are different ways you can add streams to the list.

• From a model, hover your mouse pointer over the stream to display the pop-up toolbar. Click  Drag Object and drag it into the grid.
• From the repository, click 
  Error rendering macro 'excerpt-include' : No link could be created for '_streams_show'.
   to display the list of the streams in the repository. Drag a stream from the list into the grid.
• From the stream properties, drag the icon into the grid.

If you add multiple streams to the task, PhixFlow will process the streams in any order when the task runs. Only use this method if there is you are sure there are no dependencies between the streams.