Using task sets beyond task manager
Task Manager
Task Manager is an optional Clarify module that allows subcases and action items to be automatically created when a task set is selected from a case.
Task Manager and the Clarify Classic Client
Within the Clarify Classic Client, this process is started by clicking the Jobs button on a case, and then selecting a Task Set to be executed. The Clarify Client then evaluates the task set and creates the subcases and action items as needed.
Task Manager and Dovetail Agent
Within Dovetail Agent, this process is started by choosing the Workflow – Run Task Set menu item on a case, and then selecting a Task Set to be executed. User’s must have the Task Manager privilege in order to see this menu item. Dovetail Agent itself does not evaluate the task set and create subcases. Instead, Dovetail Agent creates a time bomb, which fires the a business rule. Rulemanager processes this business rule which calls out to Clarify’s tskmgr.exe.
Custom actions
Since Dovetail Agent isn’t processing the task set itself, but is instead causing a business rule to get fired, we now have an additional hook to do custom workflows.
Business Rule
Here’s the normal business rule we use for executing a task set:
| Rule Title | Run Task Set |
| Description | Have rulemanager run a task set using the tskmgr.exe |
| Object | Case |
| Start on Event | Run Task Set |
| Conditions | |
| Start Action | 0 minutes |
| From | event creation |
| Using | Elapsed Time |
| Action Type | Command Line |
| Message / Action | “C:\clarify\task manager\tskmgr.exe” Case id_number “[Object ID]” “[Task Set Name]” |
Notice that there aren’t any conditions here – so this rule will run for all task sets.
Instead, lets add a new rule (that looks very much like the one above), and we’ll add a condition, and have it do something rather than calling tskmgr.exe.
| Rule Title | SelfService registration |
| Description | Have rulemanager run the SelfService registration script for new web users |
| Object | Case |
| Start on Event | Run Task Set |
| Conditions | Task Set Name = Selfservice Registration |
| Start Action | 0 minutes |
| From | event creation |
| Using | Elapsed Time |
| Action Type | Command Line |
| Message / Action | c:\dovetail\scripts\selfservice-registration\SelfServiceRegistration.bat [Object ID] |
Notice that we now have a condition in place, so this rule will only fire if the Task Set Name = Selfservice Registration. And we’ve also changed the action, so it calls a different script. In this example, it’s a BAT file which is a simple wrapper for a powershell script.
That script could be anything – an executable, a powershell script, a cbbatch script, it could push a message into Dovetail Carrier, etc. What the script does isn’t the important point here – the important point is that we now have another hook in how we can kick off a custom script.
Task Set
I created a simple task set that doesn’t have any tasks. You can use the client, or just import a DAT file to do this.
Test it out
From a case, we’ll choose Workflow – Run Task Set
Then pick the task set and run it:
and we can see that the business rule gets fired by Rulemanager:
Summary
This is all an example of how we now have an additional hook to do custom workflows or actions – without customizing Dovetail Agent.
Even if you’re not using the baseline task manager functionality (which auto-creates action items or subcases), we can use this Run Task Set functionality to our advantage. Just one more tool to add to your bag of tricks.
Rock on.
