Tool type

Decide on the type of tool.

Consider the folloqinf, for example.
Contenta Explorer (CE) only—All the work is done on the local client.
  • What information does the user need to provide?
  • How will the tool ask for the information?
  • How much feedback/progress information will the tool provide the user?
  • Are there additional files which must be installed on each client PC?
  • Are there system issues (memory, cpu, disk space, OS versions) that need to be resolved?
  • How much error information will be provided to the user?
  • What will the user need to know or do in order to help with any troubleshooting?
Contenta Explorer , PC AI and Support AI -
A client tool launched by Contenta Explorer , the user does some work then runs a Support AI so that some of the processing is completed on the server.
  • What actions will be done on the client?
  • What actions will be done on the server?
  • Should the Support AI be run as a wait or no-wait tool?

    Wait means that the Client tool will not execute the next line of code until the Support AI has completed.

    • The wait state allows for limited communication from the Support AI to the Client tool. That is, the exit status of the support AI is returned to the waiting client tool.
    • Used when immediate feedback (e.g., a file or information) is required.

    No-wait means that the Client tool will continue processing code independently of the Support AI.

    • The no-wait state is to free up the client.
    • Used when the task on the server is likely to take a significant amount of time and/or when no feedback is required.
    • If using no-wait and the Support AI will connect by cookie, the Support AI must be passed the login cookie and must use it instead of the tool cookie. The reason for this is that the tool cookie expires as soon as the client tool finishes.
  • What information does the client tool need to provide to the Support AI?
  • What information and/or files does the Support AI need to provide to the client tool?
    • How will any information and/or files be returned to the user?
    • Does the user need access to server-based logs?
    • What error information from the Support AI will be returned?
Server AI or Trigger
All the work is done on the server. The only thing that happens on the client is the launching of the tool, either from the Tool Menu (Server AI) or by forwarding a project (Trigger).
  • Are there any standard arguments that need to be passed?
  • What task route will contain the trigger?
  • What are the specific fatal errors? This is very important since a failure in a trigger aborts forwarding of the project along the workflow.
Command-line tool/scheduled task
Runs without Contenta Explorer and is typically server-based. Often used to perform some sort of regularly scheduled task.
A tool can be run as a cron task (crontab) or Windows service.
  • Set the task as sysadmin in a crontab file (cron job).
  • pdm.cshrc must be sourced before the tool is run, so the actual cron task should be a cshell script that sources pdm.cshrc and then runs the tool.
  • Command-line tools need the database name, socket, node name, login and password in order to connect.