When creating a new schedule, the following options are available to be set:
| • | The schedule start date and time |
| • | The schedule frequency |
| • | The schedule finish date and time |
| • | The schedule exceptions (if any) |
Schedule Start:
This is the date and time that the scheduled task will be active from. It is entirely acceptable to set this date to a future date, but as a consequence; the schedule remains inactive until the set date has passed. Similarly, setting the schedule to "Never" start; means that the scheduled task remains inactive (and is effectively disabled). As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Schedule Frequency:
There are seven distinct schedule frequencies:
| • | Once |
| • | Minute |
| • | Hour |
| • | Day |
| • | Week |
| • | Month |
| • | Year |
Each schedule frequency has it's own set of options, each of which can be summarized as follows:
Schedule Frequency - Once:
The task will be run once and only once, at the date and time set in the "Schedule Start" options.
Schedule Frequency - Minute:
The task will be run every N minutes.
In the figure above, the task has been set to run every single minute.
(eg. 00:00, 00:01, 00:02, 00:03, ... , 23:59)
Schedule Frequency - Hour:
The task will be run every X hours, at N minutes past the hour.
In the figure above, the task has been set to run every single hour, at zero minutes past the hour.
(eg. 00:00, 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, ... , 23:00)
As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Schedule Frequency - Day
The task will be run every X days, at exactly HH:MM.
In the figure above, the task has been set to run every single day, at exactly midnight.
(eg. 2007-08-30 00:00, 2007-08-31 00:00, 2007-09-01 00:00, ... )
As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Schedule Frequency - Week:
The task will be run every X weeks, on the specified days of the week, at exactly HH:MM.
In the figure above, the task has been set to run every single week, on every day of the week, at exactly midnight.
(eg. Sunday at 00:00, Monday at 00:00, Tuesday at 00:00, ... )
As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Schedule Frequency - Month
The task will be run on the Nth day of the month at exactly HH:MM, either:
| • | every N months, or |
| • | on the specified months only. |
In the figure above, the task has been set to run on the 1st day of every single month, at exactly midnight.
(eg. 1st January at 00:00, 1st February at 00:00, 1st March at 00:00, ... , 1st December at 00:00)
As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
Schedule Frequency - Year:
The task will be run on the Nth of month X, at exactly HH:MM, every N years.
In the figure above, the task has been set to run on the 18th of January at exactly midnight, every single year.
(eg. 18th January 2008 at 00:00, 18th January 2009 at 00:00, 18th January 2010 at 00:00, ... )
Schedule Finish:
Scheduled tasks only run they are when active. Whether or not a schedule is active, is determined by the start and finish dates.
In the case of the Schedule Finish date and time, the scheduled task will be run up until the schedule finish date.
If set to "Never", then the schedule will be active indefinately.
Schedule Exceptions:
There are three types of schedule exceptions:
Daily exceptions:
These occur every day, between two specifc times of day.
As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
eg. The following figure shows a New Daily Exception, that occurs every day between 00:00 and 23:59 (ie. all day)
The scheduled task will not run between these times of day.
Weekly exceptions:
These occur on one or more days of the week
eg. The following figure shows a New Weekly Exception, that occurs on Saturday and Sunday every week.
The scheduled task will not run on these days.
Selected Date exceptions:
These occur on a specific day, either all day, or between two specific times of day.
As with any of the schedule options, dates and times can be specified as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
eg. The following figure shows a New Selected Date Exception, that occurs on the 13th August, between 00:00 and 23:59.
The scheduled task will not run on the 13th of August between these times of day.
