Information for System Administrators: Scheduled Exports

In order for Scheduled Exports to be produced the vwexport command must be run - details below.

The vwexport command is the program used to execute scheduled exports. It interacts with the Schedules and Exports modules to ensure that data exports occur when scheduled.

In order for Scheduled Exports to be produced the vwexport command must be run, typically early each morning. The server based cron facility provides this ability. The following crontab entry needs to be installed to ensure the correct functioning of the Scheduled Export facility:

0 1 * * * ~vw/bin/vwrun vwexport 2>&1 | ~vw/bin/vwrun vwlogger -t "KE Vitalware Scheduled Exports Report" exports

where ~vw is replaced with the full path to where Vitalware is installed on the server machine.

The time at which the command is run (1:00 am in the example above) should be adjusted to fit in with any Vitalware maintenance scheduled.

The vwexport command is the program used to execute scheduled exports. It interacts with the Schedules and Exports modules to ensure that data exports occur when scheduled. The program may be used in five different ways:

  1. Run all scheduled exports

    Usage: vwexport

    Any scheduled exports required to be run will be executed. The current date is used to determine what exports are required. This form of the command is used by cron on a daily basis to ensure all scheduled exports for the given day are performed.

  2. Exclude one or more scheduled exports from the default run of scheduled exports

    Usage: vwexport -xirn[,irn,..] (where irn is the IRN of a scheduled export specified in the Schedules module).

    The default vwexport command runs all scheduled exports at the same time. The -x irn parameter is used to exclude one or more scheduled exports from this default run of scheduled exports (in order to run any excluded scheduled exports at another time).

  3. Run an unscheduled export

    Usage: vwexport -f filename -g recordcount -i irn

    The filename argument is the path to a file containing the export data in Vitalware XML format. A suitable file can be generated using the Vitalware reporting facility and selecting a Report Type of Export XML Document. The recordcount is the number of records in the XML file and irn is the IRN of the Schedules record to execute. An Unscheduled Export run within Vitalware uses this form of vwexport.

  4. Run scheduled exports for a specific date

    Usage: vwexport -R date [-i irn]

    The date argument indicates the date to use to determine what Scheduled Exports need to be run. The date format expected is yyyy/mm/dd. An optional IRN of a Schedules record may be supplied to force a particular Scheduled Export to execute using the supplied date. This form of vwexport is useful for re-running Scheduled Exports for a given date, generally because of problems with the nightly automatic run. It can also be used for internal testing of vwexport.

  5. Run a specific scheduled export

    Usage: vwexport -i irn [-s startdate -e enddate]

    The irn argument is the IRN of a Schedules record to be executed. Optional startdate and enddate values (in yyyy/mm/dd format) may be used to override the computed #STARTDATE# and #ENDDATE# values respectively. This form of vwexport is very useful for testing filters as it allows a specific schedule to be run without waiting for the Scheduled Export date to arrive.

In all usages of vwexport the appropriate Exports record is created for each export executed.