Actions represent the instructions that are available to be included inside a task as steps. The Step Builder is used to select which "available actions" to add as steps to your task. An "action" becomes a "step" once it is included in a task.
NAME=AMT file
When an AutoMate task is exported it is named with a .AMT extention. IT is saved in AutoMate's single task file format (STFF). Thie file may easily be imported into other AutoMate installations by simply double clicking on it.
NAME=Configuration Manager
The AutoMate Configuration Manager is used for administration of AutoMate. Using the Configuration Manager you can create, edit and delete tasks and administer othe important AutoMate settings. There are several ways to access the Configuration Manager: 1) Double-click on the AutoMate icon in the system tray. 2) Click Start | Programs | AutoMate 4 | AutoMate Configuration Manager. 3) Right click on the AutoMate icon in the system tray and select "Open".
NAME=Constant
AutoMate tasks may be designed on one machine and run on others either by exporting and importing or by deploying through AutoMate Enterprise Server. Because of this, sometimes it is necessary to specify a path to a file or any other piece of information that may be different from machine to machine. It is impractical to design a separate task for each machine so AutoMate allows the use of Constants. Constants can act to make tasks more portable, as they can easily convey information to the task at runtime about that users system. You can also configure your own constants, for example UserName, favorite color, or whatever else you need to use in a centrally created task that might differ from machine to machine. Constants, unlike Variables, are system-wide, meaning that they are not specific to single tasks. They are configured in the preferences dialog, and are specific to the machine which AutoMate is running on. Constants may be used in any AutoMate step parameter by specifying the name of the costant sorounded by % signs.
NAME=Deployable
Deployables are used when files must be distributed along with a task to many different machines. Task distribution supporting deployables can either be accomplished through manual exporting / importing of tasks, or task deployment through an AutoMate Enterprise Server Deployables are used in actions that take a file path as a parameter (such as Start an Application, Open a document, Copy a File, Print a Document, etc.) by specifying the name of the deployable surrounded by double pipe symbols (i.e. ||DEPLOYABLENAME||). All steps that support deployables have a checkbox labeled "Make this a deployable".
NAME=Script
In AutoMate, a script is a text file containing BASIC compatible code that can be used in conjunction with the "Run a BASIC script" action inside a task.
NAME=Step
Steps represent the instructions that a task is to execute when it is triggered. The Step Builder is used to assemble these steps in the desired order from the list of available actions. An "action" becomes a "step" when it is included in a task.
NAME=Step Builder
The Step Builder window in AutoMate is used to visually assemble the available actions, into a list of current steps that the task should execute. It contains two panes "available actions" on the left - which displays a categorized list of everything AutoMate is capable of doing, and "Current steps" on the right which is a list of the steps you have added to your task so far. You may add steps from the list of available actions by dragging and dropping the action from the left to the right pane.
NAME=Task
An AutoMate task is the most important concept to understand in AutoMate. A task is what you build so that AutoMate can perform actions on your system for you automatically. A task is comprised of triggers (e.g. Schedule, hotkey, etc.) and steps (Start an Application, reboot the system, Send Keystrokes). The steps in a task are a series of instructions which are assembled using the Step Builder from AutoMate's large collection of available actions. The triggers tell the task when to execute. For Example: Run the program MSWORD.EXE and send the following keystrokes (steps) at 12 oclock every Friday (trigger).
NAME=Trigger
Triggers define when an AutoMate task should start. AutoMate includes a variety of triggers to choose from such as Schedule (start at a certain time, date and/or interval), hotkey (when a certain key is pressed), Window Watcher (when a certain window appears on the system), etc..
NAME=Variable
Like constants, variables can be used to represent data in a task that may be different from machine to machine. But unlike constants, variables can also be modified during a task's execution through the use of the Input Variable action. In this way, variables can be used to represent data that may be different each time the task is run. Also unlike constants, the scope of variables is limited to the context of the task they are used in. For example, creating and adding data to a variable called DATERANGE would not make the data accessible for any other task except for the task it was created in. To create a variable for use in a task, use the "Create Variable" action. To referrence the current contents of the variable in a task use !!VARIABLENAME!! in any text field of an AutoMate action. See the chapeter "What is a Variable?" for more information on using variables.
