A command is a data message used as an efficient means of communicating data between and within OfficeTalk workgroups. In some cases, local OfficeTalk users may write commands to the database as an efficient way of performing a set of actions which would otherwise require a series of records to be written to the database. The commands remain until a command processor service processes the command and writes the relevant records.
More commonly, commands are used to communicate changes made between remote workgroups which replicate their data asynchronously or via e-mail. For more information on workgroup replication, see What Is Remote Workgrouping. When a remote workgroup updates another workgroup with its changes, in this way, the result is one or more commands being placed in the target database waiting for a command processor to interpret them. A supervisor may interpret commands from any OfficeTalk machine but by far the most efficient configuration is to interpret commands on the machine which contains the OfficeTalk database. This reduces network traffic.
You may interpret commands manually by selecting Command Processor Service from the OfficeTalk Services dialog box and pressing the Kick… button. The length of time it will take to process commands will depend upon how many commands are pending and how much data is represented by each command. For example, if you receive a command containing the initial snapshot of another remote workgroup's database, then the process will take quite a long time.
Typically, if you want to replicate data with another remote workgroup on a regular basis, you should set up a schedule for the associated gateway service.
The gateway service performs the processing of commands at the end of its operation. However, if you are being sent updates and requests for data and you are a slave workgroup (i.e. you may not initiate a replication) then you should set up a schedule to simply perform commands. You can do this by selecting the Command Processor Service and pressing the Settings… button. The Command Processor Settings property sheet is displayed.
Press the New… button to add one or more schedules.
The Return Addresses page lets you specify the e-mail address to which other workgroups should send their commands.
This is relevant only if you receive commands via e-mail. Select which service you expect to use to receive commands and specify the return address in the field below.