AX2562

Scheduler task: File Processing

This task performs file processing on a specified report file or file group utility. The file must already be enabled for file processing. You can use the file processing settings that are already in the file, or you can override any setting.

The following settings must be completed for the task:

Item	Description
File to Process	The report to process for the task. Click the Browse button to open the Axiom Explorer dialog, and then select a report to process. Only one report can be selected for each File Processing task. If you want to process multiple reports, you can add multiple File Processing tasks to the Scheduler job. TIP: Once the file is selected, only the file name displays in the task. If you want to know the folder location of the selected file, hover your cursor over the field. The folder location is listed in the tooltip.
Process Multipass	Specifies whether the report will be run using multipass processing. If this option is selected, multipass processing is performed. This is equivalent to selecting File Output > File Processing > Process File Multipass. Otherwise, multipass processing is not performed and multipass settings do not display in the task. This is equivalent to selecting File Output > File Processing > Process File. NOTE: If you select Process Multipass, but the file does not have any defined multipass settings, then you must override the blank multipass settings for the file and define them in the equivalent of "advanced mode." If you want to use "basic mode" settings (specify only a source column and Axiom Software automatically completes the rest of the settings for you), then you should edit the file to define the basic mode multipass settings so that they can be inherited by the task.
Enable iterative calculation while processing	Specifies whether iterative calculations are enabled for the file during processing. In most cases you will leave this option disabled. If this option is selected, then iterative calculations are enabled for the file during the Axiom query refresh process. The iterative calculation settings are fixed at a maximum of 100 iterations and a maximum change value of .001. For more information on iterative calculations, see the Microsoft Excel Help.

Item

Description

File to Process

The report to process for the task. Click the Browse button to open the Axiom Explorer dialog, and then select a report to process.

Only one report can be selected for each File Processing task. If you want to process multiple reports, you can add multiple File Processing tasks to the Scheduler job.

TIP: Once the file is selected, only the file name displays in the task. If you want to know the folder location of the selected file, hover your cursor over the field. The folder location is listed in the tooltip.

Process Multipass

Specifies whether the report will be run using multipass processing.

If this option is selected, multipass processing is performed. This is equivalent to selecting File Output > File Processing > Process File Multipass.
Otherwise, multipass processing is not performed and multipass settings do not display in the task. This is equivalent to selecting File Output > File Processing > Process File.

NOTE: If you select Process Multipass, but the file does not have any defined multipass settings, then you must override the blank multipass settings for the file and define them in the equivalent of "advanced mode." If you want to use "basic mode" settings (specify only a source column and Axiom Software automatically completes the rest of the settings for you), then you should edit the file to define the basic mode multipass settings so that they can be inherited by the task.

Enable iterative calculation while processing

Specifies whether iterative calculations are enabled for the file during processing. In most cases you will leave this option disabled.

If this option is selected, then iterative calculations are enabled for the file during the Axiom query refresh process. The iterative calculation settings are fixed at a maximum of 100 iterations and a maximum change value of .001.

For more information on iterative calculations, see the Microsoft Excel Help.

Advanced options

This section only displays if multipass processing is enabled for the task, and the task uses settings that are eligible for parallel processing. Click on the down arrow next to the title to expand the section and view the options.

Parallel processing for file processing tasks is performed based on multipass passes. With certain task settings, multiple passes can be separated into sub-jobs, which can then be processed at the same time (in parallel). This can improve the performance of the task.

For example, imagine that you are multipass processing a file by department. If the task is processed sequentially, then the task would process Dept 100 and finish it, then move to Dept 110 and finish it, etc. When parallel processing is used instead, Depts 100-199 can be separated into one sub-job, Depts 200-299 into another sub-job, etc. Because the sub-jobs are processed in parallel, multiple departments are processed at the same time, so the overall task can complete more quickly.

Item	Description
Maximum Parallel Jobs	The maximum number of subordinate jobs to run in parallel. The default number is 4. This is the total number of sub-jobs that can be run at the same time for this task. Ultimately the number of sub-jobs that are run in parallel depends on the number of Scheduler threads that have been configured for use at your organization, and the number of Scheduler threads that are currently available (threads that are not processing other higher-priority jobs).
Processing Batch Size	The number of multipass passes to include in each sub-job at a time. The default number is 10 for eligible snapshot and export processes, and 7000 for eligible save-to-database processes (save once at end). Passes are determined based on the multipass list of items. For example, if you are processing by department (DEPT.DEPT), then each department is a separate pass. If the batch size is set to 10, then each sub-job would process 10 departments at a time. In most cases, the default settings are sufficient. If you are experiencing lengthy processing times and want to optimize performance, you can adjust this setting as follows: divide the number of passes by the number of available Scheduler threads. For example, if there will be 100 passes and there are 4 Scheduler threads, set the batch size to 25.

Item

Description

Maximum Parallel Jobs

The maximum number of subordinate jobs to run in parallel. The default number is 4.

This is the total number of sub-jobs that can be run at the same time for this task. Ultimately the number of sub-jobs that are run in parallel depends on the number of Scheduler threads that have been configured for use at your organization, and the number of Scheduler threads that are currently available (threads that are not processing other higher-priority jobs).

Processing Batch Size

The number of multipass passes to include in each sub-job at a time. The default number is 10 for eligible snapshot and export processes, and 7000 for eligible save-to-database processes (save once at end).

Passes are determined based on the multipass list of items. For example, if you are processing by department (DEPT.DEPT), then each department is a separate pass. If the batch size is set to 10, then each sub-job would process 10 departments at a time.

In most cases, the default settings are sufficient. If you are experiencing lengthy processing times and want to optimize performance, you can adjust this setting as follows: divide the number of passes by the number of available Scheduler threads. For example, if there will be 100 passes and there are 4 Scheduler threads, set the batch size to 25.

NOTES:

For save processes, only "save once at end" processes are eligible for parallel processing. In this case, the records to be saved to the database are extracted after each pass to a central temporary table. Once all passes are complete, then all records are saved to the database from the temporary table. Save processes where data is saved directly after each pass are not eligible, because these processes may depend on sequential processing.
There is no way to disable parallel processing if the task is eligible; however, you can adjust the parallel processing settings if desired.

File processing settings

Once you have selected a file to process, the file processing settings from that file display within the task as read-only. You can leave the settings as they are, or you can override any setting.

To override a setting, select the Override check box to the right of the setting. The setting becomes editable, and you can change it. The change only applies to the file processing task—the setting remains unchanged within the file.
If you override a setting, make sure that any related settings make sense in the context of the change. For example, if File Generation is set to Multiple Output Files, and you override it to be Single Output File, then you should also check the Sheet Names setting to make sure that you will end up with unique sheet names within the file.

NOTE: If the target file for the task uses File Collect or Batch processing, then it is not possible to override the settings on the File Collect Configuration Sheet or the Batch Control Sheet.

For more details on file processing settings, see the detailed help topics for the File Processing feature.

Note the following about specific settings for the task:

The Output Folder location must be accessible by the Scheduler service user account. If you specify a network folder location using the Browse button, the location is automatically entered as a UNC path. If you specify a C: drive location, that location will be evaluated as the C: drive of the Scheduler server. For more information, see Troubleshooting file access.
If the file processing type is Print, the Scheduler server(s) must be configured to access the specified printer. This may require the assistance of your IT department.

Job variables can be used in any file processing setting that accepts a typed user input.

Batch variables

If the file has defined batch variables, you can specify variable values to be used for the file processing task. When the task is executed, any specified variable values are temporarily placed within the file, within the designated cell for that variable value. The file can be set up to use the variable value in some way during processing.

Item	Description
Variable Names	The names of the variables, as defined in the File Processing Control Sheet for the source file. If no names are listed, then no variables are defined in the file.
Variable Values	The variable values to be placed within the file when the file processing task is executed.

Job variables can be used in the batch variable settings. For example, a job variable can be used as the value for a batch variable.