Web Request Task Properties Window

The Web Request Task Properties window is displayed when you edit a job step that runs a Web Request 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.

In addition to the standard response events, this task defines the following events:

Event Description
The Web request was executed (regardless of the outcome) Occurs when the Web request has been executed, regardless of the result.
The HTTP request returns the following status code Occurs if the HTTP request returns the specified status code. For example, a status code of 404 is returned if the page or file is not found.

Web Request

URL to Request

Enter the URL of the Web page or file to request. For example, http://www.example.com. The URL may contain Job Variables.

Credentials

Specify the credentials, if any, needed for this Web resource.

  • If the Web resource does not require credentials (i.e., it accepts anonymous requests), select "Use the job's credentials."
  • If the Web server is configured to use Windows authentication, and the account that the job is running under has the necessary permission on the Web server, select "Use the job's credentials."
  • Otherwise, you must select "Send the following credentials to the Web server" and provide the necessary credentials. Type the user name in the User ID box. If this is the first time this user ID has been used for a Web-based task in adTempus, you will be prompted to complete a Credential Profile for the user ID, specifying the password.

Save the page or file returned by the server

Use these options if you want to save the page or file returned by the Web server. You can choose to save the file in the job's history and/or save the file to a specified directory.

Job Variables

The Web Request Task sets the following Job Variables, which can be used by subsequent operations in the job:

Variable Description
WebRequest.RequestURL The URL requested by the task.
WebRequest.StatusCode The HTTP status code returned by the remote server.
WebRequest.ResponseFileName The path/name of the file where the response is saved (if the option to save the server response to a file has been specified for the step).

Related Concepts

Web Request Task