Tasks

Hidden Feature

The Tasks group is located on the Scripting ribbon. It has three tools:

Task Manager

The Task Manager tool allows you to show or hide the Task Manager panel in the main application window. The Task Manager is used to control batch processing. Scripts can be grouped into batches, and data can be dropped into idle tasks, commands, or scripts.

The Task Manager displays a hierarchical table of all the tasks that have been scheduled. It includes their descriptions and status of each task. It also allows you to control these tasks -- set their priority, cancel them, and so on -- using a context menu (described later in this topic).  

The Task Manager table includes the following columns:

  • The Operation column describes the command to be executed.
  • The Input column describes the input data for each task, including the frame selection if available.
  • The Progress column is updated incrementally while tasks are being processed.
  • The End Time and Duration columns are estimated when the command starts and initially appears in light gray.  After a task is completed, these values record the actual end time and duration for the task.
  • The Priority column shows the criteria for the sequencing of commands.  This can be set using the Task Manager context menu (described later in this topic)
  • The Engine and Thread columns indicate where commands are processed and by which thread (commands are initially issued in the main engine then moved to background engines for processing).

Green is used to indicate commands that have completed successfully. Errors are displayed in red. Double-clicking will bring up a detailed error dialog.

Right-click to access a context menu that has options to help you control the Task Manager settings.

Cancel: Click this option to cancel a background task that is in progress.

Set Priority: The Set Priority submenu lets you change the  priority of the various tasks.

Delete: Click this option to remove the currently-selected tasks from the Task Manager.

Clear All Processed: Click this option to remove all already-processed tasks from the Task Manager.

Set Columns: The Select Columns option opens the Select Columns dialog box. You can use this dialog box to add and remove columns from the Task Manager table.  Simply click and drag a column header from the Add or Remove Columns dialog box to the Task Manager table to add a column.  Click and drag a column header from the Task Manager table to the Add or Remove Columns dialog box to remove a column.

Options:  Displays the Task Scheduling page of the Image-Pro Options dialog box.  This page allows you to set user options for the performance and functionality of the Task Manager, such as whether or not to send emails and, if so, to what address. Note that more task scheduling options can also be found on the Advanced page of the Image-Pro Options dialog box.

Output

The Output tool on the Scripting tab allows you to show or hide the Output panel in the main application window. The Output panel is the panel to which macros write output messages.