Save and run tasks

A task is the saved configuration of a tool tab: an export, an import, a SQL migration, a data comparison, a masking job, a reschema or an IntelliShell script. You set the job up once, save it, and run it again whenever you need it, from the Tasks tab, on a schedule, from the command line or on a remote runner.

A task keeps the configuration only. It is run against the connections it names, with their saved settings, and goes through the same checks and confirmations as when you click Run in the tool itself.

Task types

Each tool is described in Data.

Save a tool tab as a task

1. Open the tool and configure it, for example an export of acme_store.orders to a CSV file.
2. In the tool’s toolbar, click Save task.
3. Type a Task name (for example Nightly orders export), choose a Location (a task folder, or Tasks (top level)), and click Save.
4. The Task saved message offers Open Task Viewer, which opens the Tasks tab on your new task.

Once saved, the tab is linked to its task: Save task writes your later changes into the same task. Save task as… saves a copy under a new name and leaves the original untouched. Load task replaces the tab’s configuration with a saved task of the same type.

Create a task from the Tasks tab

1. Click Tasks in the global toolbar.
2. Click New Task (Ctrl+N).
3. Choose the type of task to create. For an Import Wizard task, also choose the Import format (JSON Import, CSV Import or BSON Folder Import).
4. The tool opens in a new tab. Configure it, then click Save task.

Run a task

1. In the Tasks tab, select one or more tasks.
2. Click Run (F5), or right-click and choose Run.
3. Read the Run Task question. It names each task and says what the task will do, for example which collection an import will overwrite. Confirm to start.

Each run is a background job named after the task: follow it, or stop it, in the Operations pane. Several tasks can run at once. A Data Compare and Sync task opens its comparison results in a new tab.

If a task needs a connection that is not open, the connection is opened with its saved password. If no password is saved, you are asked for it.

Don’t show this message again is offered only when nothing can be lost: when every selected task only reads or adds data. Tasks that replace, remove or drop data always ask.

Organise tasks

The task tree shows three columns: Task name, Task type and Schedule (the next run time, or none).

Reference

Tips

• Give tasks names that say what and where: acme_store orders → CSV (nightly) reads better in a run history than Export 3.
• Clone a task to make a variant (another target file, another collection) without retyping the whole configuration.
• To run a task on a team server instead of this computer, use Run on Remote Runner in the context menu; see Team.

Troubleshooting