Jobs, Tasks, and Batch Files

In using the Scheduler, you will be scheduling jobs and setting up tasks within those jobs.

A job is a collection of tasks that is scheduled to begin at a certain day and time. A task is a specific activity, such as importing a log or creating a report. A typical job could contain the following elements:

Job: Produce daily hit report
- Task 1: Import log
- Task 2: Look up HTML titles
- Task 3: Resolve IP addresses
- Task 4: Perform Whois search
- Task 5: Analyze data and produce report 1
- Task 6: Analyze data and produce report 2
- Task 7: Delete old data from database
- Task 8: Compact the database

After you enter the required information, the Scheduler creates a batch file, which is a collection of operating-system commands that executes the required tasks. Here is what part of a batch file might look like:

REM MARKETFOCUS START DO NOT MODIFY
REM MARKETFOCUS TASK "Import stuff"
%ANALYSIS% -silence messagelog="C:\Program Files\Usage Analyst\Message\Big job.1.log" db="C:\Program Files\Usage Analyst\MSUsage.mdb" report="C:\Program Files\Usage Analyst\Reports\trial.html" analysis="C:\Program Files\Usage Analyst\Catalog\Comprehensive\Comprehensive report.mfa"
REM MARKETFOCUS END DO NOT MODIFY

Although it is not necessary for automating operations, you can edit the batch file directly to add other operations to the job, such as copying a log file from one computer to another or emailing a finished report to a distribution list. For more information about editing the batch file, see "Editing the Batch File" later in this chapter.