A task can be late for processing because the computer was off or in a sleep state when the task should have been run. Since AutoMate™ is designed to run automatically when Windows starts, AutoMate™ will see that a task is late. If that occurs, there are several AutoMate™ actions that will deal with this condition --- what you will use depends on the nature of the task.
You may want to ask yourself these questions when considering what option to select for late tasks:
- Is my task time critical (meaning if it doesn’t fire in the time you specify, does it still need to run even though that time has passed)?
- Do I need to know when the task is late?
- Is my computer unattended (for example on a server system you would not want it to prompt the user for action since none would be there to answer the prompt)?
There are 3 options to choose:
Immediately run the task
This option runs the task regardless (and without any prompt) if the task is late. You would use this option if the time a task runs is not important.
Don’t run the task
This option does not run the task if it is late because the task is time critical and may not operate correctly if it is not within the time parameters it was meant to run.
Prompt for what to do
This option assumes a user will be at the machine to view this prompt and make a decision. If running AutoMate™ on a workstation, this is a good option to use; if running on a server, this option is not recommended, as no one would be there to deal with the prompt.
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