Automator command line parameters

An Automator command line parameter is identified by a dash or forward slash immediately preceding a single character followed by a token(s) which sets the parameter's value(s), all separated by blanks. If a token contains embedded blanks, it must be enclosed in double quote marks.

There are several functions you can perform with command line parameters:

• Running Automator scripts with additional logging 
• Turning on the Automator Trace function
• Running scripts for different data

Running an Automator script

To run an Automator script using command line parameters

1. From Automator, open the script you want to run.
2. Select Run > Schedule.
   The Schedule Script to Run Later dialog box is displayed.
3. Create a scheduled task for the script.
4. From Explorer, find Scheduled Tasks and right click on the task to open the Properties page.
5. Make changes to the Automator-generated command line in the edit box labeled Run.
6. Right click the task to run it immediately, or allow it to run as originally scheduled.

Parameters for running Automator scripts

Use the following command line parameters:

-r <scriptfilename>.b1a> When you specify an optional Visualizer file directory, this overrides the location of Visualizer input files for any Populate event in the script, using instead all files of type .vis in the parameter directory.

-r <scriptfilename>.b1a> (VisFiledirectory) When the script parameter specifies a valid Automator script, Automator runs the script and exits. If you do not specify a valid script using this parameter, Automator does not exit and remains interactive. If no script file extension is specified, .b1a is the default.

-t <tracefile> This creates an extensive record of database activity which may be requested by Customer Support to track specific problems and is always overwritten.

-g <full log filename> This parameter immediately appends event log information to the specified file and forces any Graphics event to append a keystroke command trace to the file.

The file specified in the Options > Log File settings is written or appended to only after the entire run completes. The format of the log files produced by -g and -l parameters was changed slightly to accommodate writing event log information immediately.

-l <full log filename> This parameter immediately appends event log information to the specified file but does not add Graphics event commands. If you use it in conjunction with the -g parameter, it must follow the -g parameter to separate the keystroke command trace from summary-only information which is appended to the specified file.

-d <re-run date> This re-runs the script for the date, specified according to the Windows short date format. If your short date format contains forward slashes, the date should be enclosed in double quote marks.

Graph reconstruction in keystroke trace files

The keystroke trace file contains messages about the status of graph reconstruction. By default, the keystroke file trace is turned off in Visualizer. However, by default, it is turned on in the TrueSight Capacity Optimization Manager component.

If keystroke tracing is on, the keystroke trace file specifies how many graphs have been regenerated and how many have failed to regenerate. For example:

• The line that follows the command {FileNewFrom} reports the count of reconstructed as well as failed graphs.
• For the nest-suppressed command {GroupNest Parm}, the line appears if there is a failed graph as well as if the template file does not exist.

The following sample is a trace file indicating that some graphs successfully regenerated and some did not:

Turning on the Automator trace function

If you are not using the TrueSight Capacity Optimization Manager component where Automator trace is on by default, use the following procedure to turn it on:

1. Select Run > Schedule to open the Schedule Script to Run Later dialog box and create a Microsoft Windows scheduled task for the script.
2. From Explorer, find Scheduled Tasks , then right click on the task to open the Properties page.
3. Make changes to the Automator-generated command line in the edit box labeled Run. For example, you can turn the Automator trace function on in the command line.
4. Right click the task to run it immediately, or allow it to run as originally scheduled.