Job Variable Update Task Properties

The Job Variable Update Task Properties window contains the settings for a job step that executes a Job Variable Update Task.

Property Pages

General

Name for this step (optional)Optionally, specify a descriptive name for the step.Enable this stepUncheck this box to disable the step. If the step is not enabled, it will be skipped at execution.Description/NotesEnter any extended descriptive information or notes for this step.

Conditions

The Conditions page defines conditions that must be satisfied before the step is run.

Condition Criteria

The Condition Criteria determine how the conditions should be evaluated:

  • Execute only if all conditions are met. The step is only executed if all of the listed conditions are met.
  • Execute if any condition is met. The step is executed if any of the listed conditions is met.

If Conditions are not satisfied

The satisfaction options determine what adTempus should do if the conditions are not satisfied:

  • Fail the step. The step is not executed; the status is set to Failed.
  • Execute anyway. The step is executed anyway.
  • Skip the step (do not report as a failure). The step is not run, but it is not treated as a failure. The status of the step is reported as "Skipped (conditions not met)."

Conditions List

The Conditions list lists the conditions that have been defined for the step. You can add, edit, or delete conditions. See the Conditions topic for information on the available condition types.

Variables

The Variables page allows you to define Job Variables for this step. You can add new Variables, or override the values of Variables inherited from the Job. Any Variables you define or override here affect only this step of the Job.

To set Variables that apply to the entire job, use the Variables page in the Job properties.

The Job Variable list shows variables defined for the current object as well as variables inherited from a higher level. Icons next to each variable in the list convey information about their inheritance:

The variable is inherited from a higher level
The variable is inherited from a higher level and is locked (cannot be overridden)
The variable is inherited from a higher level and has been modified at this level
The variable is new at this level
The variable is inherited from a higher level and must be overridden (a value provided) at this level
The variable has been overridden (redefined) at a lower level. This icon only appears if you have analyzed variable usage (see below).

When you hove the mouse pointer over the icon for an inherited variable, adTempus will show where the variable was inherited from.

Filtering the variable list

The variable list can be filtered to:

  • Hide inherited variables (so you only see variables defined at this level)
  • Hide variables that cannot be modified (inherited variables that are locked to prevent modification)
  • Show only variables that must be overridden

Analyzing and viewing variable usage5.0

When you click Analyze variable usage, adTempus searches for all the places where the variables are used or overridden. After this analysis is complete, new columns are added to the list to show, for each variable:

  • Whether it has been overridden (redefined) at a lower level
  • A count of how many times it is referenced (used)

Clicking Show variable usage opens a new window showing all the references and overrides for the variables. This is the same window shown by the Find Variable and Function References tool.

Analyze variable usage only finds references and overrides that are "below" the current level. For example, if you are viewing the variables for a job, this will find all references and overrides within the job, or within jobs that may receive variables from this jobs (jobs run by Responses or Job Triggers). If you are viewing a group, this will find all references and overrides within groups and jobs below the selected group. That is, the tool only lists places that might be affected by changes to the variables in the list.

This tool does not show other places where the variables might be used. For example if you are viewing job A and some of the variables are also used in job B, those uses will not be listed unless there is a link between job A and job B.

To find all references to a variable:

  • If the variable is defined at the server level, use the Analyze variable usage tool from the variables list at the server level. This will show all uses everywhere in adTempus.
  • Use the Find Variable and Function References tool to find a specific variable or all variables.

Responses

The Responses page defines the actions that adTempus should take in response to events that are fired during execution of the step. You can add, edit, delete, or reorder responses.

All job steps support the events listed below. Some tasks may define additional events .

Event Description
Step Started Occurs at the beginning of the step.
Step Ended Occurs at the end of the step, regardless of the step result.
Step Failed Occurs if the step fails for any reason.
Step Restarted Occurs if the step is restarted due to a Response.
Restart Limit Exceeded Occurs if the restart limit is exceeded.
Step skipped Occurs when the step is skipped, either because conditions were not met (if the Skip... option is selected on the Conditions page) or due to a skip option specific to the task.
One or more conditions failed Occurs if one or more Conditions for the step is not satisfied.
Conditions not met within the specified time

Occurs if the job or a step within the job has been waiting for conditions for longer than the specified time.

Variable Update

Variable to Update

Enter the name of the Job Variable to update. Click the ... button to select from a list of already-defined variables. If the variable already exists, the existing value will be updated. Otherwise a new variable will be created.

Note: Do not include percent signs ("%") around the variable name.

Set value to

Select this option to set the variable to a specific value. Enter the value you want to set the variable to.

Check the Expand variable tokens at runtime option if you want to expand any variable tokens found in the value you have specified. For example, suppose you are updating a variable named "BaseVariable" and you specifiy that it should be set to %Variable22%. If Expand variable tokens at runtime is checked, BaseVariable will be set to whatever the value of Variable22 is at runtime. If the option is not checked, BaseVariable will be set to the literal value %Variable22% Variable22 will not be treated as a variable name).

Increase/decrease value by

Select this option to increase or decrease a numeric variable by the amount you specify. If the target variable already exists, it must contain a numeric value type or the update will fail. If the target variable does not exist, it will be created and set to the increment value.

Scope

The Scope determines how broadly the variable update will apply.

For the remaining settings the new value of the variable will be seen within the current instance of the job, and the definition will also be updated in the variable's containing object, so that future job executions will also be affected.

The user who is editing the settings must have permission to modify the target object or the settings cannot be saved. No permission check is made at job execution.

If auditing is turned on for the affected object, adTempus will generate a change log entry for the variable update. You can change this behavior.

Related Concepts

Job Variable Update Task