Rather than wait for a report or export to process and print out from your computer, you can use Scheduling Assistant feature to direct the output to another computer and/or printer. This saves you time and allows you to continue working as usual during processing. Multiple tasks can be run at the same time from different users across your network. The number of tasks you can run at the same time is based on the number of Scheduling Assistant workers that are licensed.
Scheduling Assistant also allows you to set up tasks to occur on a recurring basis without user intervention.
After a task is completed, an email or alert can be sent to notify the user. Internal mail can be viewed in Mail.
The basic output option for Scheduling Assistant is to output to a printer. This option allows you to define a specific printer via the Printer Lookup button and associate a page length of the printed output report. If the File option is selected, the user is prompted for the folder path and the name to be assigned to the output file. Scheduling Assistant will generate the output to this designated location. If the Email or Excel option is selected, the job is sent via email as an attachment. Scheduling Assistant only sends email via SMTP. If you will email via Scheduling Assistant, enter the SMTP server, user ID, and password on the Email and Fax Options tab in System ID Maintenance. You can also specify an SMTP user ID and password for each Apprise user in User Profile Maintenance.
Note You can only use Scheduling Assistant if you are granted permission to use it in User Profile Maintenance.
Scheduling Assistant tasks can be performed by Scheduling Assistant workers, which represent bandwidth and the ability to run multiple tasks concurrently. The number of workers you have available is determined by the number of workers that your company has licensed. If you have five workers, you can perform five tasks at the same time.
Scheduling Assistant tasks are assigned to a queue, which allows tasks to be separated by priority. Queues are used to group tasks that must be performed by a specific set of workers. Each queue can be associated with one or more dedicated workers, but the total number of dedicated workers associated with all queues must be less than the number of licensed workers. Apprise users can be assigned to one or more queues. Users can only send a Scheduling Assistant task to a queue to which they are assigned.
You can also use Scheduling Assistant to send email. This allows users to continue their work as email is being sent. A special Scheduling Assistant queue is used to prioritize email tasks.
Scheduling Assistant is managed as follows:
Scheduling Assistant Runtime controls task processing. For information on installing Scheduling Assistant Runtime, refer to the Apprise Installation Guide.
Scheduling Assistant Management is used to view the status of tasks submitted to Scheduling Assistant. Uncompleted tasks appear with a status of Pending. You can also view successfully completed tasks.
Task Schedule Options is used to update Scheduling Assistant tasks. Scheduling Assistant will run a submitted task, and generate the output on a central production printer or to the printer (or print file) that was designated by the user submitting the task.
Scheduling Assistant Queue Maintenance is used to set up and maintain Scheduling Assistant queues.