Case Studies - Getting Started

The Case Studies that follow are all going to create various objects that allow for implementation of a business problem stated in the individual cases. One common denominator is that the case studies are all related. Just as you would create a folder for common or related files, the same is true for ActiveBatch objects. Related objects should go into a Folder for organizational purposes. So let’s create our first object:

 

To create a Folder, right click on the Job Scheduler name (the first object displayed in the Object Navigation Pane pane), then select New Folder.

 

 

As depicted in the image below, the New Folder property sheets are tabbed in the Main view. The General properties dialog is enabled (active) by default.

 

All ActiveBatch objects have common properties. Many of the common properties are located on the General properties page.

 

The first two properties are common to every object: Name and Label.

 

The Name field is used for display purposes, and is not character restricted. This means you can enter whatever special characters you like.

 

The Label field is used to uniquely identify the object within the ActiveBatch namespace. That is, the Label must be unique to whatever container it is being added to. In this example, the new Folder object is being added to the root of the Job Scheduler (the root is one of three ActiveBatch "containers". The other two containers are Folder and Plan objects). As a good analogy, think of the Scheduler root the same way as you would the Windows File System root (for example c:\). You can't place objects any higher than the Job Scheduler root level. The Label field is restricted to alphanumeric, space, period and dash characters. The label must begin with an alpha character. By default, ActiveBatch will attempt to set both fields to the same value, to the extent it can (it strips out invalid characters from the Label property, if necessary), as a convenience. For this Folder, we will call the object UsersGuideCaseStudies.

 

 

Click Save and Close. After the Folder object is saved, the ID property will be auto-populated with a unique object identifier and the Full Path property will contain an absolute path to the object (by concatenating any container objects along with the Label property of this object). Any objects we create as part of our case studies will go into this Folder structure. The UsersGuideCaseStudies folder will appear at the root of the Job Scheduler, in the Object Navigation pane.

 

Best Practice: Use Folders to hold related objects and to better organize your objects.

 

You are now on your way.  Case Study 1 - Running a basic job to begin your ActiveBatch learning journey.