Automation Design

Exploring

This program lets you configure settings for SYSPRO programs that you want to run automatically without operator intervention.

You typically use this facility to automate month-end tasks and reporting.

  • This program is accessed from the SYSPRO Ribbon bar:

    SYSPRO Ribbon bar > Administration

Starting

  • The Request Print Dialog option is ignored when running a SYSPRO program in automated mode. All printing is diverted to the default printer and all runtime prompts and messages are suppressed.

  • An Include balance function option is available in SYSPRO's period end programs which lets you choose whether you want to run the Balance function whenever you run a Month end or Year end.

    The option is ticked automatically if the Last date balance was run field does not reflect today's date. This could have implications when using the Automation Design program where, for example, you don't want to run a Balance function before running a Month or Year end.

  • When running a task automatically using the Windows Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc), the automation must be run on the machine that designed the automation (either the client or the server).

    When run from a client machine, the parameters must be passed to SYSPROClient.exe.

    When run from the server, the parameters must be passed to SYSPRO.exe.

  • When you design a form on the server and run an automated program on a client machine, the program self-heals to the client so that the designed form values from the server are used (i.e. the BASE\SETTINGS\Automation folder on the client is updated).

  • You cannot use automation for SRS reports because the Processprompt cannot be automated.

    You need to use the SRS scheduler which allows you to indicate the form values to use to process the report.

Solving

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Using

You activate Design mode using the Automation Design program or the Run a program function from within SYSPRO.

  • From within the Automation Design program, Design mode is activated once you select the add option and assign a program to a Group name. The program is loaded and you can indicate the default form values you want to apply to the program when it is run automatically as part of the assigned group. The Save Form Values function is enabled when you are in Design mode so that you can save your program settings for automation.

  • From the Run a program function (SYSPRO Button > Run a Program or CTRL+R) Design mode is activated once you enter the program name at the Program to run field, followed by a space and the word DESIGN.

    To run automation using the Run a program function, replace the word DESIGN with RUN. The program will run with the default settings you defined in Design mode for your operator code. To run automation for a group of programs, append the group name to the RUN parameter (e.g. RUN=GroupName (where GroupName indicates the Group name you configured using the Automation Design program). You cannot design a form for a task if the group name is blank (Tasks).

Key to automation is the ability to configure editable SYSPRO forms to retain previous form values.

For example: If multiple people in your organization run the Back Order Release program (each with their own selections for branch, warehouse and geographic area) then their individual selections can be retained and used the next time they run the program.

You can set your selections for these options as an operator preference by right-clicking the pane containing the After processing completed options and selecting Options > Save Form Values as Default option. This option is operator-specific and is not configured by group or role.

Referencing

Field Description
Program This indicates the name of the program that can be automated.
Description This indicates the description assigned to the program.
Group name This indicates the name of the group(s) to which you have assigned the program (a program can belong to more than one group).

Groups enable you to organize your automated programs into collections (e.g. you could define the form values against each of your period end programs to run a Balance function, and then add these programs to a group called Balance).

A folder is created for each group name in the \Base\Settings\Automation\SYSTEM folder on the application server. Each program linked to a group is listed within this folder as: FormValues_ProgramName-LV.xml where ProgramName refers to the code of the program automated.
Remove This indicates that the program has been added to a group for automation. Selecting the remove option removes the program from the group and deletes the xml file that was created.
Add Select this to add the program to a group or multiple groups for automation.