'Run Unattended' is the option to run the function area without user intervention or user input. This can be used to execute for example a SQL Stored procedure or a VBP Execution Step on a pre-defined timer basis.

 

The process to manage the timer events is done using the Background Processing Service. This means the Service needs to be installed and running for unattended processing to work.

 

Any errors that occur with unattended functions can of course not be shown on a screen anywhere. They are thrown to the event log where the name of the function area and the step that had an error are shown.

 

Rules Regarding Unattended Functions:

  • Unattended function areas can have as many steps as you need BUT if they are input steps they must have default values. There can be no steps that require operator entry.
  • Unattended function areas MUST have a close step. This close step is what allows TransLution to know the function has executed and to set the timer interval for the next execution.
  • The Unattended Function execution is managed by the Background Processing Service. The only requirement is to set the service up to process unattended functions.
  • You can only Select Live or Buffered posting on post steps in for Unattended Functions. The options to select to retry or buffer data require user intervention and are not supported by Unattended Functions.

 

On saving an unattended function you will be prompted to check all the requirements as shown below

 

 

When configuring a function area to run in unattended mode the user is required to configure when the function will run as shown below.

 

 

Function Area Configuration

 

 

Once the user has selected the 'Run Unattended' option, they will be able to select 'Configure' to see the form below

 

 

Configuring Unattended Functions

 

The form above shows the wide range of configuration options.

 

If the user selects Daily as above, they can choose to execute the function every day or only some days of the week.

 

If the user selects Monthly they have two options as shown below. A specific date each month - 1,15 etc; or the first Monday, second Thursday.

 

   

 

Once the execution days or dates have been defined, the next step is to define the execution time. Once more there is a  lot of flexibility, you can repeat the function every x minutes or run it at a fixed time or exclude certain times. These options are shown below

 

   

 

 

The option to run all day or not is very useful. Say there are specific non-TransLution processes that run between 1 and 3 am daily and we do not want to add additional server loading then excluding these times makes sense. Or, if the business only runs for 8 or 12 hours a day, repeating these functions continually when there is nothing happening is also unnecessary.