Below is how Pre and Post run configuration looks like. You can write and store VB/Java scripts in Pre-Run iScript tab and Post-Run iScript tab.  Scripts stored inside iScript tabs will be saved inside your Process file and will always be available.

You can individually set either pre-run or post-run process or both.

If you want any external process to run BEFORE regular Process Runner task, you can that set by checking “Pre-Run Process Settings” box.  Similarly if you want any external process to run AFTER regular Process Runner task, you can set by checking “Post-Run Process Settings” box.

External process could be an externally stored Executable (.EXE), Batch (.BAT), Visual Basic scripts (.VBS), Java Scripts (.JS) or internally stored Visual Basic or Java scripts. Internally stored scripts are known as iScripts.

For External file, you can select file that you want to execute as well as pass necessary parameters to that file as follows:

1.   Select File: Here you can choose file you wish to run before/after Process Runner task. You can choose from .Exe, .Bat, .VBS or .JS file.

2.   Parameters: If the external file requires any command line parameters, you can provide them here. You can also choose standard parameters for the context menu there or by clicking ellipse at the end of the text box to get list. Each parameters must be separated by comma.

Next is execution flow setting for controlling process runner task run when external process is busy or terminated. The settings are:

1.   Wait options:  This setting is done when you want process runner task to wait or continue without waiting for external process to terminate. Options are

a.   1-No Wait: By setting this, the Process Runner task will not wait for the external process to finish and proceed.

b.   2-Wait until terminated: By setting this, the Process Runner task waits till the external process finishes completely.

c.   3-Wait until second: By setting this, the Process Runner tasks wait for that many seconds given and then proceed . If the external process finishes by that time, the exit code is trapped else ignored.

2.   Stop on error: When you check this box, the Process Runner task stops as the external process return error exit code(non zero). This box is disabled when you select “1-No Wait” as wait option.

If process type is transaction (TX),  you can also control behavior for additional run types as follows:

1.   Run with normal run:  The process will be executed in normal run mode.

2.   Test Run: The process will be executed in Test Run mode also.

3.   Run with Debug: The process will be executed in Run – Debug All and Run – Debug Error mode also.

4.   Run with Error Processing: The process will be executed in Error Processing Run mode also.

Process Runner also facilitates iScript feature where you can write and store your own VB script or Java Script and execute it before or after regular process runner tasks. You can maintain independent scripts for pre-run and post-run.

Pre-Run iScript

Post-Run iScript

Following is a list of variables which can be passed from Process Runner to external process as a parameters or variables. These will help external process to consume them in their internal logic with much tighter integration.

External process can tell Process Runner if it should continue further or stop.  External process can return 0 to indicate that there was no problem and Process Runner should continue further. Or it can return 1 and indicate that there was a problem and Process Runner should not continue further.

Note: This works only if you asked Process Runner to wait for external process. If Process Runner was setup not to wait, it will ignore Return Code and always continue further. Refer to table below for various possibilities.

Here is an example of a VB script file with return error and its behavior with process settings.

     dim a    '---- var declaration

     a = Inputbox("Enter number")     '----Accept value of a from keyboard

     if a >= 10 then   '----Check value of a

                 msgbox 100      '----Show 100

                 wscript.quit(0) '---- Error code 0 is returned (No error state)

     else

                             if a >= 0 then     '----Check value of a

                                         msgbox a          '----Show 10

                                         wscript.quit(0) '---- Error code 0 is returned (No error state)

                             else

                                         msgbox -1         '----Show -1

                                         wscript.quit(1) '---- Error code 1 is returned (Error state)

                             end if    '----Close if

     end if    '----Close if

This script takes parameters from command line and shows them one by one and terminates with error code 0 (no error).  If no parameter is give, it shows messages and terminates with error code 1.

Similarly you can write a Java script as well, here is an example.

This will repeat any statement within the while loop 100 times. It will increment loop variable after each iteration.

     a = 1;    //----initialization of a

     while ( a <= 100 )          //----check value of a, if it is <= 100

     {

                  //----comment statement

                  //----write any code that you want to repeat here

                  i++;     //----increment the loop control variable a

     }           //----close loop

For trapping error generated from external application, the process runner uses one environment variable called PRERRORLEVEL and PRERRORMSG. When the external process wants to return some value as exit status to process runner program, they can use this environment variable and set its value to desired exit code they want. Process Runner’s Pre-run or Post-run execution feature can trap this value and control further processing accordingly. The process runner program considers non zero value of that variable as an error state and zero as a success. Same way if someone wants to get some error message back to process runner, they can use this PRERRORMSG environment variable.