In this section we will run one of the many jobs that can be processed through the xTuple Connect Batch Manager. The job we will use for this scenario is an Actual Cost update. This is a perfect candidate for a xTuple Connect Batch Manager submission because it is a resource-intensive operation involving multiple database updates. Depending on the number of Items in your product catalog, an Actual Cost update can take up to several hours to complete. As a general rule, these kinds of jobs are better run after hours when the server is not busy with production requests from multiple logged-in users.
To reach the cost update screen we will be using for this example, follow these steps:
Follow this path:
Select "All Class Codes"
Select the SELECT ALL COSTS button
Select the "Roll Up Actual Costs" option
Select the SCHEDULE button
The job is now ready for the xTuple Connect Batch Manager, as shown in the following screen:
On the "Submit Action to xTuple Connect Batch Manager" screen you can see that the "Response Email" field is pre-filled with an email address. By default, this email address belongs to the user who submits the job. User email addresses are maintained on the user record.
In this example, the "ASAP" option is selected. This means the job should be processed immediately or as soon as possible. Remember, since the xTuple Connect Batch Manager is single-threaded, it can only process one job at a time. If there are already other jobs in front of this one, then this job will have to wait its turn. To send the job to the xTuple Connect Batch Manager for processing, select the SCHEDULE button.
Tip
We could have selected the "Scheduled" option and selected a date and time to run the job instead.
Once a job has been submitted to the xTuple Connect Batch Manager, it's possible to then go to the xTuple Connect Console and monitor the progress of jobs. This monitoring of jobs can occur either from within xTuple ERP or within the xTuple Connect Batch Manager client itself.
To monitor jobs with the Batch Manager client, select In addition, the main Batch Manager window has a status bar that changes whenever a job starts and finishes, when the Batch Manager cannot connect to the database, and when the Batch Manager receives an error looking for jobs to process. These messages remain in the status bar for an hour after they have occurred or when another message overwrites the old one, whichever comes first.
To monitor jobs within xTuple ERP, select . The following screen will appear:
On this screen you can filter by the user who submitted the job, display completed jobs, and check the "Automatically Update" option to refresh the screen on a regular interval. Completed jobs will have a Run Status of Done and a Completed timestamp. If the job failed for any reason, the first line of the error message will appear in the Exit Status column. If you allow the cursor to hover over the Exit Status text, the full version will appear in a tooltip window.
Note
Read the exit status carefully. Jobs might show error messages for a number of different reasons. For example, a RunMRP job might fail with a database error or with an email error. The database error would mean that the planned orders were not created. The email failure would indicate that the planned orders were created as they should but this successful processing could not be reported properly.
The following options are available:
- RESCHEDULE
Allows you to rerun a completed job, change it to make it recur or not, and change the time it's scheduled to run
- RETRY ASAP
A shortcut to the RESCHEDULE button. You can highlight one or more jobs and click RETRY ASAP to rerun one or more jobs without asking any questions. Only jobs that have already completed are rescheduled by this button.
- VIEW
Shows the same information as the RESCHEDULE button but without the option to change anything
- CANCEL
Deletes one or more highlighted jobs if they have already completed or prevents them from running if they have not yet been started
After a job is completed successfully, the user who submitted the job will receive a confirmation email from the xTuple Connect Batch Manager indicating the time of completion and any related notes. The following screenshot shows a sample confirmation email:
