Copyright: Copyright© 1999 Symantec Corporation.  All rights reserved.
Citation: Copyright© 1999 Symantec Corporation.  All rights reserved.


Editing Scheduled Tasks

  Related Topics

To modify a scheduled task, select it by highlighting it. Scheduler updates its Program and Arguments fields to reflect the task’s settings. It also reports the task’s execution time, date and frequency.

Enter any changes that you want in the Program or Arguments fields. To modify the task’s execution time, date or frequency, click on Time & Date to access the Time & Date dialog. See Using the Time & Date Dialog for more information about this dialog.

When you’re satisfied with the task’s new settings, click on Change to update its settings in the scheduled task list.

To delete a scheduled task, select it by highlighting it, then click on Delete. Scheduler will prompt to confirm your request before removing the task from the list.


Running the Scheduler

  Related Topics

You can launch the Scheduler in one of three ways:

•	By selecting Scheduler... from the Tools menu in a Procomm Plus communication window.

•	By clicking the Scheduler icon in the Procomm Plus Utilities group available from the Start menu.

•	By placing the Scheduler icon in the Windows 95/NT Startup folder.

To learn how to schedule a task, see Step-by-Step: Scheduling a Task. To learn how to schedule Procomm Plus, see Step-by-Step: Scheduling Procomm Plus.


Step-by-Step: Defining Workdays

  Related Topics

To define your "workday" for Scheduler’s frequency settings, follow these steps:

1.	Open the Define Workdays dialog.

Select the Options | Define Workdays... menu item.

2.	Enable the check box for each day in the Workdays group that your tasks should execute.

3.	Set the time your workday should begin.

The Begin Time controls work exactly like those in the Time & Date dialog’s clock.

4.	Set the time your workday should end.

The End Time controls work exactly like those in the Time & Date dialog’s clock.

Scheduler will not allow you to set an End Time earlier than a Begin Time. In addition, the Begin/End Time period cannot span midnight, as this would extend across workdays!

Click on OK to accept your changes and return to the Scheduler window.


Step-by-Step: Scheduling Procomm Plus

  Related Topics

Although you can use it to launch almost any Windows or DOS program at a specific date and time, Scheduler includes special control settings for Procomm Plus. These allow you to schedule specific tasks to be performed by Procomm Plus. You can even pass variable data to ASPECT scripts launched by the Scheduler!

Scheduling Procomm Plus as a task is much like scheduling other applications:

1.	Specify pw4.exe, along with a full path, in the Program field.

Click in the Program field and enter the full path and filename for Procomm Plus’s main executable, pw4.exe. If you’re not certain of the path, click on the Browse... button to search for the executable.

2.	Specify task options for Procomm Plus.

You could use the Arguments field to specify command-line options for Procomm Plus. However, you’ll find it far more convenient to take advantage of Scheduler’s special options. Click on the Procomm Plus... button to display the Procomm Plus Options dialog.

Script Button/Set Variables...

Select this option button, then click on its drop-down list box to choose a compiled ASPECT script file to launch with Scheduler. If you’re launching a script, you can specify variable data to pass to it by clicking on the Set Variables... button.

You can specify values for any of the 40 predefined ASPECT system variables. To switch between string, integer, float and long variables, click on the appropriate option button in the dialog. When you’re satisfied with the values you’ve entered, click on OK to return to the Procomm Plus Options dialog.

Remember that the script must have been designed to interpret and respond to the values you specify!

Automatic Connection Button

Select this option button if you want Procomm Plus to connect to a particular Connection Directory entry or group after it’s launched by Scheduler. You can specify the directory file to be loaded by Procomm Plus by clicking on the Connection Directory list box.

The second list box, illustrated in the figure in step 2, changes its label to reflect the entry or group class you’re viewing. You can toggle between Data, Fax, Voice, FTP, and Telnet entries by selecting the appropriate list items. To select an entry or group for dialing or connecting, just click on it in the list.

When you’re satisfied with the options you’ve selected for Procomm Plus, click on OK to return to the Scheduler window.

3.	Specify the execution time, date and frequency.

After you’ve specified the task options, you’re ready to specify when the task will be launched by Scheduler. Click on Time and Date... to open the Time & Date dialog. To select a day in the current month, simply click on it in the calendar. To select a day in the future, click on the scroll buttons beneath the calendar until the month and year you want are displayed, then click on the appropriate day.

You can set the task’s execution time by clicking on the scroll buttons on either side of the digital time display. The buttons on the left side control the hour, while those on the right side control the minutes. You can also set the time by dragging the hands of the clock.

To toggle AM/PM hours on the clock, click on the button to the far right of the digital time display. It is labelled "am" or "pm", depending on the current setting.

By default, Scheduler launches a task only once. But you can specify Hourly, Daily, Weekly or Monthly by selecting the appropriate setting from the Frequency: drop-down list box. For more information, see Using The Time & Date Dialog. You can also schedule tasks to run only on days you specify as "work days," as explained in Defining Workdays.

4.	Add the new task to the scheduled task list.

Click on Add to place your task in the Scheduler’s activity list.

If you’d like to verify that Scheduler will be able to launch Procomm Plus, and that the task will operate as you expect it to, click on the Test Run button. Scheduler immediately runs Procomm Plus using the information you’ve provided.


Step-by-Step: Scheduling a Task

  Related Topics

Scheduling a task is a four-step process:

1.	Specify the application or program to be launched.

If you know the complete DOS path and filename of the program you want to schedule, click within the Program field and enter them.

Unless the application’s executable directory is included in your DOS PATH statement, make sure you include the complete path along with the filename in the Program field.

If you’re unsure of the exact location or name of the program, click on the Browse... button to display a standard file selection dialog. Highlight the program filename you want to run, then click on Open to accept it. The path and filename you selected appears in the Scheduler window’s Program field.

2.	Specify any arguments you want to pass to the application or program.

Specify any options or switches you’d normally use on the program’s command line in the Arguments field.

If you’re running a DOS program, keep in mind that the total number of characters for the path, program name and arguments cannot exceed 128 characters under DOS.

3.	Specify the execution time, date and frequency.

Once you’ve entered the program name and the arguments, you’re ready to specify the execution time and date. Click on Time and Date... to open the Time & Date dialog. To select a day in the current month, simply click on it in the calendar. To select a day in the future, click on the scroll buttons beneath the calendar until the month and year you want are displayed, then click on the appropriate day.

You can set the task’s execution time by clicking on the scroll buttons on either side of the digital time display. The buttons on the left side control the hour, while those on the right side control the minutes. You can also set the time by dragging the hands of the clock.

To toggle AM/PM hours on the clock, click on the AM/PM button to the far right of the digital time display until its label reflects your choice.

By default, Scheduler launches a task  once, but you can specify Hourly, Daily, Weekly or Monthly by selecting the appropriate setting from the Frequency drop-down list box. For more information, see The Time & Date Dialog. You can also schedule tasks to run only on days you specify as "work days", as explained in Defining Workdays.

4.	Add the new task to the scheduled task list.

Click on Add to place your task in the Scheduler’s activity list.

To verify that Scheduler will be able to launch your task, click on Test Run. Scheduler immediately attempts to launch the selected task.

Scheduler must be running to launch a task. If it isn't running during an event's scheduled time, it immediately executes the task the next time you run it if the Options | Run Expired Events menu item is enabled. For this reason, you could add its shortcut to the Windows 95/NT StartUp folder, as explained by Windows 95/NT help; the shortcut should target \program files\procomm plus\programs\pwsche32.exe.


The Scheduler

  Related Topics

The Procomm Plus Scheduler is a versatile utility that can run any DOS or Windows application, including Procomm Plus itself, at a date and time you specify, or at a certain regular frequency. You can take advantage of any command-line arguments your scheduled programs accept, for even greater flexibility. The Scheduler even features special built-in support for ASPECT scripts.

To launch Windows applications or execute DOS programs, the Scheduler itself must be running. However, Scheduler is designed to be both efficient and unobtrusive. After you’ve configured any events you want the Scheduler to handle, you can minimize it and go on to other tasks. The Scheduler will remain inactive until it’s time for one of your scheduled tasks to be launched!

Running the Scheduler

Step-by-Step: Scheduling a Task

Step-by-Step: Scheduling Procomm Plus

Editing Scheduled Tasks

Using the Time & Date Dialog

The Scheduler's Options Menu

Step-by-Step: Defining Workdays

The Scheduler's Menus


The Scheduler's Menus

  Related Topics

Menu | Item	Description
File | Exit	Closes the Scheduler. <Alt><X> is the keyboard shortcut.
Options | Define workdays...	Opens the Define workdays dialog, as discussed in Step-by-Step: Defining Workdays.
Options | Run expired events	This selection configures how the Scheduler handles expired events, as discussed in The Scheduler's Options Menu.
Options | Delete completed events	This selection configures how the Scheduler handles completed events, as discussed in The Scheduler's Options Menu.
Help | Help Topics	Opens the on-line help system and displays information about the Scheduler.
Help | About Scheduler	Displays version information about the Scheduler.


The Scheduler's Options Menu

  Related Topics

Selections on the Options menu allow you to control how Scheduler handles "expired" and completed events, and to specify the days of the week when your tasks should run.

Run Expired Events

If an event’s scheduled time and date has lapsed at the time Scheduler starts, that event is said to be "expired". By default, Scheduler launches expired events immediately upon start-up. For example, if you scheduled a script to run at 8:00 am, but Scheduler was not started until 8:15, the script would be launched as soon as Scheduler loaded.

You can enable or disable Scheduler’s execution of expired events by selecting the Options | Run Expired Events menu item. The response is enabled if a checkmark appears by this item on the menu. Events that have executed and completed are not considered "expired".

Delete Completed

By default, Scheduler deletes events that have executed and completed. You can enable or disable this behavior by selecting the Options | Delete Completed menu item. Scheduler will delete completed events if a checkmark appears by this item on the menu.


Using the Time & Date Dialog

  Related Topics

The Time & Date dialog allows you to specify your task’s launch time and date. You can easily schedule your task for any time or date in the future by using the dialog’s calendar controls.

By default, Scheduler launches a task only once. However, you can have the task repeat at different intervals every day, or at intervals on workdays in this dialog.

Scheduler allows you to define your "workdays" as well. See Defining Workdays.

Click on the Scheduler's Time & Date button to open the dialog.

To select a day in the current month, just click on it in the calendar. To select a day in the future, click on the scroll buttons beneath the calendar until the month and year you want are displayed, then click on the appropriate day.

You can set the task’s execution time by clicking on the scroll buttons on either side of the digital time display. The buttons on the left side control the hour, while those on the right side control the minutes. You can also set the time by dragging the hands of the clock.

To toggle AM/PM hours on the clock, click on the button to the far right of the digital time display. It’s labelled "am" or "pm", depending on the current setting.

Frequency List

By default, Scheduler launches a task only once. But you can specify Hourly, Daily, Weekly or Monthly by selecting the appropriate setting from the Frequency drop-down list box:

Once

Scheduler runs the task only once, at the specified time and date.

Hourly

While Scheduler is running, it executes the task once each hour.

Hourly on Workdays

While Scheduler is running, it executes the task once each hour during the days and hours you’ve specified as workdays. See Step-by-Step: Defining Workdays for more information on workdays.

Daily

While Scheduler is running, it executes the program once a day.

Daily on Workdays

While Scheduler is running, it executes the program once a day during the days you’ve specified as workdays. See Step-by-Step: Defining Workdays for more information on workdays.

Weekly

Scheduler runs the program once a week.

Monthly

Scheduler runs the program once a month.