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1994-12-03
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Task Scheduler
By Curt Bates
v94.12
Overview
Task Scheduler (TS.EXE and TS2.EXE, referred to as TS) are utility
programs designed to schedule tasks to run. TS.EXE is a DOS
program, and TS2.EXE is an OS/2 Full Screen program. I wrote TS
because I needed a non-PM based scheduler to use with TSHELL.
Important Information
This software is freeware. However, If you find the programs useful
a contribution of $10 would be very much appreciated. Every little
bit helps. Contributions should be sent to the author at the mailing
address given at the end of this section.
The author grants all recipients of this software and documentation
permission to freely copy and use it. Permission to distribute the
software to others is also granted on the condition that this
"IMPORTANT INFORMATION" section is included in its entirety as part
of any such transfer and as long as no additional conditions are
added.
DISCLAIMER : Please note that this software is provided on an as-is
basis. The author does not warrant that the functions contained in
this software will meet your requirements or that the operation of
the software will be uninterrupted or error free. The author will
not be liable for any loss of profit, data, or use of the software,
or special, incidental, or consequential damages, or other similar
claims, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of
such damages. With any software, it is good practice to test it on
your own equipment, using non-critical data, before considering it
for day-to-day use.
Inquiries, complaints, suggestions for improvement, and
contributions may be directed to the author via OS/2 Shareware BBS
E-Mail or by letter. The appropriate addresses are :
OS/2 Shareware BBS ID : Curt Bates
Mailing Address : Curt Bates
717 Cypress Dr.
Pacific MO 63069
Installation
Create a subdirectory on the drive you want to install TS. Copy all
the files into the directory. Start TS by typing TS or TS2
(depending on wether you are using DOS or OS/2).
Program Usage
TS is a menu driven program. It only one menu with the following
choices:
Add
---
This option allows you to add a task to the scheduler. WHile
you choose this option, you will be presented with the following
panel:
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ Date : ║
║ ║
║ Time : ║
║ ║
║ Frequency: (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Other) ║
║ ║
║ Interval : ║
║ ║
║ Command : ║
║ ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
This panel has the following fields:
Date
----
This is the Date to schedule the task for its first
execution.
Time
----
This is the Time to schedule the task for its first
execution.
Frequency
---------
This is the frequency to execute the task at. Valid options
are:
D Daily - Execute this task once a day at the time
specified.
W Weekly - Execute this task once a week starting with
the date and time specified.
M Monthly - Execute this task once a month starting
with the date and time specified.
NOTE: This is a proper month. If a task is to run
on the Fifth, then it will run on the fifth every
month.
O Other - Execute this task based on the number of
hours specified by the Interval, see below.
Interval
--------
This field is only used if a Frequency of Other is
specified. It is the number of hours between executions of
the Task. IE: If the Interval is 1, the Task will be
executed once an hour.
Command
-------
This is the command to be executed. It is passed to the
operating system for execution.
Edit
----
Edits the currently highlighted task using the same panel as
ADD.
Delete
------
Deletes the currently highlighted Task.
Save
----
Saves the Tasks to a file.
Quit
----
Saves the Tasks and exits the program.
Usage Considerations and Limitations
1) TS will schedule up 99 tasks. It can only process 3 or 4 per
minute (depending on your machine). So don't schedule a lot of
tasks for the same time, or some could be skipped.
2) To make best use of the OS/2 environment you should use the
START command to run the tasks. If you don't use the START
command, TS will wait until the task finishes before continuing
execution. Again, without START, other tasks could be skipped.
3) When TS executes a task, it calculates the next time the task
should run. It then updates the task to reflect the date and
time of the next run.
4) TS maintains it tasks list in sorted order based on next run
time. When you add a task, it places it in the list based on
the next run time.
5) If you add a task and use a previous date or time, TS will
calculate the next run time and add the task accordingly.
You can not schedule tasks in the past.
6) Any tasks that are skipped while TS is not running, will be
moved forward and rescheduled.
7) When Adding and Editing a Task, TS is not monitoring tasks for
execution, so a task could be skipped. If you are adding or
editing a lot of tasks, finish the scheduling the tasks, save
the database, and exit TS. When you restart TS, it will check
all Tasks for proper scheduling.
8) Minimum time to reschedule a task is 1 hour. IE: You can not
setup a task to repeat every 15 minutes. To do this, setup 4
tasks 15 minutes apart to run once an hour. (This could change
if enough people want it.)
9) TS only handles re-occuring tasks. To handle scheduling a task
for a single execution, see the enclosed REXX program AT.
Program History
Version Description
v94.11 Initial Version
v94.12 Fixed Bugs in Time entry.
Added Task execution logging.
Corrected errors in documentation
Fixed bug with some tasks being skipped (This was
one reason for the log). If a task's time passes
without the task being executed, it will be on the
next scan.