Background Tasks

Background task is a grid containing every job that is executed, for all users. A background task will be activated on system-defined processes, such as:

  • Synchronise from the asset tree
  • Accept development in the asset tree
  • Generate proposed work orders
  • User permission calculations.

The purpose of background tasks is to monitor the progress of tasks and identify errors that take a long time to process, while working on other system functionality.

Using Background Tasks

  1. Background Task Steps

    2. Background tasks are broken down into smaller chunks of work called steps. Clicking the Details button opens split view, where you can analyse the various steps for the selected background task and view its progress. One background task can have multiple steps. If a step has completed successfully, the Is Valid column will be set to "true" and if not, the Is Valid column will be set to "false".

  2. Step Response Messages

    3. A step response message is also displayed, providing a reason why the step has passed or failed. One step can have multiple response messages. Select the relevant step to view its response message.

    Not all steps have response messages. All failed steps (where Is Valid is "false") have response messages. However, for steps where Is Valid is "true", you might see step response messages in some cases and not in others.

    In addition to seeing which step failed and why the step failed, you also have ability to navigate to the record to fix the error. If a step response message has an Object ID, then you are able to double-click that entry. The related record's edit screen will open, where you can make changes, as required.

    If the step response message is too long to be viewed in full, you can click the View Message's Full Value button associated with the message. The full message will be displayed in a pop-up window. From here, you can also copy the message, if required, or close the pop-up.

  3. Errors

    4. On the Errors tab, you will see a summary of the failed steps response messages. An error is a combination of a failed step (where Is Valid is "false") and it is related response message. Only errors are displayed here (where Severity is "error"). This information is used to easily fix entities that contain errors across multiple steps.

  4. Cancelling a Background Task

    5. You are able to cancel a background task while it is still running, in other words, when the background task has a status of "Running". To do this, select the background task and click Cancel. If successful, the background task's status will update to "Cancelled". Once the background task has a status of "Completed", it cannot be cancelled.

  5. Deleting a Background Task

    6. You also have the ability to delete background tasks. Select one or more background tasks and click Delete. Once the delete is confirmed, the deleted records will be removed from the grid.

My Background Tasks

While the Background Tasks Dashboard lists the global background tasks for all users, the My Background Tasks screen provides a view of only your own background tasks. It enables you to see tasks that you've performed in On Key and monitor the progress of the various steps in those tasks.

To access your own background tasks, click System Management - My Background Tasks in the main menu. Alternatively, to quickly access your background tasks that are initiated from the asset tree, click Assist - View Background Tasks in the sidebar. This allows you to see your own background tasks without having to leave your current screen. Refer to On Key Assist for more information.

Background Task Permissions

You will always be able to work on the background tasks that you create, i.e. the background tasks that are visible on the My Background Tasks screen. However, to be able to work on background tasks created by other users, you need the following custom permissions:

  • Can View Others Background Tasks
  • Can Delete Others Background Tasks
  • Can Cancel Others Background Tasks.