Adding Tasks

You can add multiple tasks to an agent. However, you can specify only one event condition per agent. Each task is performed for the event list that meets the execution rules you specify for the task . The agent performs tasks in the order that you add them, unless you change their order later . You can save an agent and add additional tasks to it later.

You can add source items or data items to some types of tasks. When the agent performs the task, it uses the current value of the item. If you want the agent to use the value that a particular item had the previous time the agent ran, you can insert the previous function before the item.

To insert the previous function, from the Insert menu, click Previous Value.

Add an Email Task

Add an email task to an agent to send an email about an important business event. Email tasks provide you with the flexibility to send an email with the content you want to the recipients you want.

For more information, see Example - Add an Email Task.

You can also add other types of tasks . Email tasks share some similarities with report tasks. For more information, see Email Notifications.

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Send an email.

3. In the To box, and if applicable, the Cc or Bcc boxes, enter the email addresses of the recipients using one or more of the following methods:

   • You can type text directly, separating each email address using a semicolon.

   • If your model contains a data item that is an email address, you can drag this item from the source tab or from the data items tab. When the agent runs, the data item for each event instance is replaced by the current value in the package.

   • You can click select the recipients, find the users, groups, roles, contacts and distribution lists, select the entries you want, click the arrow button to update the Selected entries list and click OK.

4. In the Subject box, type the subject of the email.

   Tip: You can also drag items from the source tab or from the data items tab. When the agent runs, the data item for each event instance is replaced by the current value in the package.

5. In the Body box, type the email message text directly or drag items from the source tab or from the data items tab.

   If you insert data items in the Body box, the body message will be longer. When the agent runs, the data item for each event instance is replaced by the current value in the package. For more information, see How Multiple Events Affect Email Messages.

   If the email has a single HTML attachment and the Body box is empty, the attachment appears inline.

6. If you want, change the message format from HTML to plain text or vice versa:

   • To change from the default HTML format to plain text format, click the Plain text link.

     Tip: After you switch to plain text format, any HTML formatting changes are lost.

   • To change from plain text to HTML, click the HTML format link. You can then use formatting buttons to edit the message.

7. If you want to add attachments, click Attach and choose the attachments you want:

   • To attach the event list, click Attach the event list.

   • For any report task that has the Enable attachment of the report in email tasks check box selected, click Attach the reportreport name.

     Tip: For more information about enabling a report as an email attachment, see Customize the Report.

8. If you want to add links, click Add links, select the entries you want, click the arrow button to update the Selected entries list and click OK.

9. Under Send this email for the events, review the event status that will cause the email to be sent.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can edit the task execution rules .

10. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the email task . When the agent runs, it retrieves values for all source and data items and sends the email to the recipients you chose.

Add a News Item Task

Add a news item task to an agent to publish a headline to a folder in Cognos Connection.

For more information, see Example - Add a News Item Task.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In Cognos Connection, create a new folder or portlet.

   For more information, see the Cognos Connection User Guide.

2. In Event Studio, specify an event condition .

3. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

4. Click Publish a news item.

5. In the Headline box, type the text you want to appear as your news item headline.

   Tip: You can also drag items from the source tab or the data items tab.

6. If you want, in the Screen tip box and in the Text box, you can type a description of the entry.

   The screen tip is limited to 100 characters.

   Tip: You can also drag items from the source tab or from the data items tab.

7. Under Link to, choose an object that you want to appear when you click a news headline.

   • To link to Cognos 8 content, click Select an entry, go to the entry you want, and click OK. For example, if you want the Customer Contact report to appear when someone clicks the headline, click Select an entry, locate the Customer Contact report and click OK.

     Tip: You can add a report task that runs a report before the news item task is performed. If you link that report to the news item task, the report always shows information about current event instances when someone clicks the headline.

   • To link to a URL, type the URL address in the box shown.

     If the URL points to a Web site address, the protocol, such as http, must be included. For example, to create a URL for the Cognos Web site, you would type http://www.cognos.com.

8. Under News list location, click Select a location, go to the folder or portlet in which the news item will be published and click OK.

9. Under Publish this news item for the events, review the event status that will cause the news item to be published.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

10. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the news item task . When the agent performs the news item task, it publishes the news headline to the location you chose. When you click the headline, the Cognos 8 entry or the Web page you linked to appears.

The description text appears when you set your Cognos Connection preferences to use the details view. The screen tip appears when you pause your pointer over the icon for the entry in the news list location.

Add a Report Task

Add a report task to an agent to run a report that is related to an important business event.

For more information, see Example - Add a Report Task.

You can also add other types of tasks . Email tasks share some similarities with report tasks. For more information, see Email Notifications.

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

You must have permissions to run the report that you select. For more information, see the Report Studio User Guide.

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Run a report.

3. In the Select the Report dialog box, specify the report, query, analysis, or report view to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the entry you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. If you want, under Options, click Set and customize the report .

5. If the report includes parameters, under Prompt values, choose how to specify prompt values for each parameter:

   • If you are using an item, in the Method column, click Use an item and drag an item from the source tab or from the data items tab to the Value column.

     Tip: When you specify a data item, values from the event list are passed as prompt values in the report. If the event list has multiple instances, then multiple values are passed as prompt values. Therefore you must ensure that the report being run has a prompt that can accept multiple values. For more information, see the Report Studio User Guide.

   • If you are using a value, in the Method column, click Use a value, click Specify values, and in the Value column, type a value.

     Tip: If you want to clear the prompt values and return to the default values, click Reset to default.

6. Under Run this report for the events, review the event status that will cause the report to run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

7. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the report task . When the agent performs the report task, it runs the report and delivers it according to the delivery options you chose .

Customize the Report

Change the report options from the default options to customize the report for your audience.

You can do the following:

• Change one or more report output formats.

• Change one or more languages.

• Change one or more delivery methods.

• Burst the report if it was authored with bursting specifications.

Default options are set by the report author. You can change some default run options for reports.

You change the report options when you click Set or Edit in the Specify the report to run dialog box. For more information, see Add a Report Task.

Setting the report options for a report task in Event Studio is similar to running a report with options in Cognos Connection. For more information, see the Cognos Connection User Guide.

Steps

1. In the Select the report options dialog box, select the Override the default values check box.

2. Under Formats, click the formats you want for the report output.

3. If you want to select different or additional languages for the report, click Select the languages and use the arrow keys to move the available languages to the Selected languages box and click OK.

   Tip: To select multiple languages, press Ctrl + click or Shift + click.

4. Under Delivery, choose the delivery method that you want:

   • To save the report, select the Save check box, then click the button next to Save the report.

   • To save the report as a report view, select the Save check box, then click the button next to Save the report as a report view. You can change the name or target folder of the report view by clicking Edit the options. Make the changes, and click OK.

     Tip: Save the report as a report view if you do not have write access to the report. You can then add a link to the report view when you specify an email task.

   • To print the report, select the Print the report check box and click Select a printer. Click the button next to the printer you want to use and click OK. Or, if the printer is not listed, you can type the printer information.

     Tip: If you have administrator privileges and want to set up the printer for future use, click New printer. You must type the network address of the printer by using the format \\server_name\printer_name for a network printer on a Windows installation and printer_name for a UNIX installation or for a local printer.

   • To attach the report in an email task that you create later, select the Enable attachment of the report in email tasks check box.

   • To email the report, select the Send the report by email check box.

5. If you clicked Send the report by email, click Edit the options and specify what you want:

   • If you want to send the email to Cognos 8 recipients, click Select the recipients. Select the check box next to the names you want to include, and click To, Cc (copy), or Bcc (blind copy). The entries that you select are listed under Selected entries. Click OK.

     Tip: To select all entries in a list, click the check box in the upper-left corner of the list. To remove names from Selected entries, select the check box next to the name and click Remove. To search, click Search. In the Search string box, type the phrase you want to search for. For advanced search features, click Edit.

   • If you want to send the email to other recipients, in the To:, Cc, or Bcc boxes, type the email addresses separated by semicolons (;).

     Tip: If you logged on, your name automatically appears in the To list box.

   • Under Subject, type the subject of the email.

   • Under Body, type a message to be included in the email.

   • If you want to include an attachment, select the check box to include the report or a link to the report, and click OK.

     If you are an administrator, you can prevent users from including attachments. For more information, see the Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide.

6. Under Bursting, specify whether the report should be bursted.

   This option is available only if the report author defined burst keys in the report.

7. Click OK.

   The Specify the report to run dialog box appears.

8. Continue specifying the report. For more information, see Add a Report Task.

Add a Job Task

Add a job task to an agent to run a job. A job identifies a collection of reports, report views, agents, and other jobs that are scheduled together and share the same schedule settings. For more information, see the Cognos Connection User Guide.

For example, in Cognos Connection, you create a job named Two Reports, and select two reports that you want the job to run. In Event Studio, you add a job task and select the Two Reports job. When the agent runs and detects events that meet the task execution rules, it runs the Two Reports job.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Before you create a job task, you must create a job in Cognos Connection. For more information, see the Cognos Connection User Guide.

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Run a job.

3. In the Select the job dialog box, specify the job to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the job you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. Under Run this job for the events, review the event status that will cause the job to run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

5. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the job task . When the agent performs the job task, it runs all the Cognos 8 items identified in the job.

Add an Agent Task

Add an agent task to an agent to run another agent. By running multiple agents in sequence, you can use the output from one agent as the input to another agent. You can also use multiple agents that interact with each other using data retrieved from different data sources. This removes the need to join databases using Framework Manager.

For more information, see Example - Adding an Agent Task.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Run an agent.

3. In the Select the agent dialog box, choose an agent.

   • Search the folders to find the agent you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. If the task includes parameters, under Prompt values, choose how to specify prompt values for each parameter:

   • If you are using a value, in the Method column, click Use a value, click Specify values, and in the Value column, type a value.

   • If you are using an item, in the Method column, click Use an item and drag an item from the source tab  or from the data items tab  to the Value column.

   Tip: If you want to clear the prompt values and return to the default values, click Reset to default.

5. Under Run this agent for the events, review the event status that will cause the agent to be run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

6. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the agent task . When the agent performs the agent task, it runs the agent you specified.

Example - Adding an Agent Task

You want to run the high_returns_followup agent to detect a high rate of returned items and resolve the related issue. However, for each item that has a high rate of return, you also want to check the importance of the customer to your company as calculated from data in a data warehouse system. The customer’s importance value is calculated using projected sales and profit data.

You create a second agent named high_returns_customer_check that is run by the high_returns_followup agent. When a high return event occurs, the high_returns_followup agent runs and passes customer details to the high_returns_customer_check agent. The high_returns_customer_check agent then runs a query to check the customer importance value. If the customer importance value is high, the high_returns_customer_check agent sends an email asking the customer services agent to contact the customer and fix the problem immediately.

Add a Database Update Task

Add a database update task to an agent to run stored procedures that exist in a database. A stored procedure takes arguments as input and updates the database. The database that contains the stored procedures can be different from the database in the package that the agent is monitoring.

For information about running stored procedures, see the Administration and Security Guide.

You can also add other types of tasks .

A stored procedure is accessible in Event Studio only if it was marked as a data modification type in Framework Manager. If the input parameters to the stored procedure task are grayed out, check the way your procedure has been modelled. For more information, see the Framework Manager User Guide.

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Update a database.

3. Under Package, click the package you want to use to update the database.

4. Under Data modification stored procedure, click a stored procedure that exists for the package you selected.

5. If the stored procedure includes arguments, under Arguments, choose how to specify values for each argument:

   • If you are using a value, in the Method column, click Use a value, click Specify values, and in the Value column, type a value.

   • If you are using an item, in the Method column, click Use an item and drag an item from the source tab  or from the data items tab  to the Value column.

   Tip: If you want to clear the argument values and return to the default values, click Reset to default.

6. Under Update the database for the events, review the event status that will cause the stored procedures to run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

7. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the database update task . When the agent performs the database update task, the stored procedures are run and the database is updated.

Add a Web Service Task

Use a Web service task to trigger an external process. Web services let software programs interact with one another using standard Internet protocols, so interaction is not dependant on operating system or program language compatibility. Web services also work well in a distributed environment because they use URLs to reference programs.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

When you specify the Web service URL, Event Studio calls a Web server and requests the Web Services Description Language (WSDL). This shows you what the input and output parameters are to the web service.

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Call a Web Service.

3. In the Web service URL box, type the URL of the Web service.

   If the URL points to a Web site address, the protocol, such as http, must be included.

4. Click Retrieve.

   The available Web service operations are retrieved.

5. Under Operation, click the Web service operation you want to perform.

   The available method and the list of arguments is retrieved.

6. If the operation includes arguments, under Arguments, choose how to specify values for each argument:

   • If you are using a value, in the Method column, click Use a value, click Specify values, and in the Value column, type a value.

   • If you are using an item, in the Method column, click Use an item and drag an item from the source tab  or from the data items tab  to the Value column.

   Tip: If you want to clear the argument values and return to the default values, click Reset to default.

7. Under Call the Web Service for the events, review the event status that will cause the Web service to be called.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

8. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the Web service task . When the agent performs the Web service task, the Web service is called and its service is run.

Example - Adding a Web Service Task

You want to notify customer service representatives and suppliers about orders that have a high rate of return. You could do this by adding an email task. For more information, see Example - Add an Email Task. However, you know that some of the service representatives and suppliers do not have access to email. You also know that they all closely monitor the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

You decide to notify the service representatives and suppliers by creating records in the CRM system. Each record is linked to a customer name and to the type of product that was returned. Your company developed a Web service that creates CRM records. In Event Studio, you add a Web service task that calls your company’s Web Service.

When the agent performs the Web Service task, the Web service updates the profile of customers who returned products. An updated customer profile can improve your sales performance in two ways:

• It helps the services representative to contact the customer quickly to resolve the current problem.

• It helps the supplier ensure that they don’t make the mistake of supplying a particular product to that customer again.

Add an Export Task

Add an export task to an agent to export entries to a deployment archive. The export is defined in Cognos Connection. For more information, see the Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Run an export.

3. In the Select the export dialog box, specify the export to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the export you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. Under Run the export for the events, review the event status that will cause the export to run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

5. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the export task .

Add an Import Task

Add an import task to an agent to import entries from a deployment archive to your target environment. The import is defined in Cognos Connection. For more information, see the Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Run an import.

3. In the Select the import dialog box, specify the import to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the import you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. Under Run the import for the events, review the event status that will cause the import to run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

5. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the import task .

Add a Content Maintenance Task

Add a content maintenance task to an agent to run a content maintenance task created in Cognos Connection. A content maintenance task searches the content store for user information that no longer exists in your external namespaces. It can also fix the content store by deleting any users that do not exist in your external namespaces. For more information, see the Cognos 8 Administration and Security Guide.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Run a content maintenance task.

3. In the Select the content maintenance task dialog box, specify the content maintenance task to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the content maintenance task you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. Under Run the content maintenance task for the events, review the event status that will cause the content maintenance task to run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

5. Under Mode, choose whether to find, or find and fix problems:

   • To find user information that no longer exists in your external namespaces, click Find only.

   • To find and delete from the content store any users that do not exist in your external namespaces, click Find and fix.

6. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the content maintenance task .

Add a Metric Task

Add a metric task to an agent to run tasks available in a metric package. For example, you can clear metric history data from the data store. Or you can import data from files into a staging area. For more information, see the Metric Studio User Guide.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you can open a metric package, you must install Cognos 8 Metrics Manager. For more information, see the Cognos 8 Metrics Manager Quick Start Installation and Configuration Guide. Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Metric Task.

3. In the Select the metric task dialog box, specify the metric task to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the metric task you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

4. Under Run the metric task for the events, review the event status that will cause the metric task to be run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

5. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the metric task .

Add a Planning Macro Task

Add a planning macro task to an agent to run Contributor macros when specified conditions are met. A planning macro is created in Cognos 8 Planning - Contributor to automate tasks such as loading import data and publishing data. For more information about planning macros, see the Cognos 8 Planning - Contributor Administration Guide.

You can also add other types of tasks .

Before you add any type of task, you must specify an event condition .

Steps

1. In the I want to area, click Add a task.

2. Click Advanced.

3. Click Run a planning macro task.

4. In the Select the planning macro dialog box, specify the task to include in the agent.

   • Search the folders to find the task you want.

   • Click the entry and click OK.

5. Under Run the planning macro task for the events, review the event status that will cause the task to be run.

   Tip: If you want to change this event status, you can modify the task execution rules .

6. From the File menu, click Save .

You can preview the task .