Generating a BOD as a background task

In this application, a BOD is generated automatically by the appropriate application events - for example, a change in status or receipt of an item - as defined in the Replication Document forms. In certain cases, a BOD must also be generated by a scheduled event rather than an application event.

For example, ProductionOrder BOD generation is triggered by a change of status, but is not triggered by changes in the production schedule. Generating a ProductionOrder BOD each time a date change event occurred would generate so many BODs during a single day that it could overwhelm the system. Thus, using an application event to trigger ProductionOrder BODs on schedule changes is not a good choice. Instead, use a scheduled event that runs as a background task. The generated BOD includes all schedule changes since the last time the BOD generation was run.

  1. In the Replication Document Outbound Cross References form, set up a definition for the BOD that requires a scheduled event.
    1. To quickly set up the BOD definition, copy a current definition for the same BOD to the new definition, and assign a new method through the Applies To Method field.
    2. Select Eligible for Background Manual Request so the BOD can be generated as a scheduled background task.
    3. Apply filter conditions. Filter conditions are required to restrict the number of BODs that are created and to define the time at which they are created, in order not to overwhelm the system during business hours.

      See Filter Conditions for BODs.

  2. In the Replication Categories form, create a new category that contains the method you created in Step 1, or use the existing ESB category.
  3. In the Replication Document Manual Request Utility, create a background task that will generate the selected BODs:
    1. Click the filter-in-place button on the tool bar.
    2. Select the appropriate BOD Noun, BOD Verb, and Applies to Method.
    3. Select Update in the Initial Load/Update field.
    4. From the Actions menu, select Background.
    5. Specify when to run the background task and click OK.

The background task selects the outbound cross reference definition and generates the BOD at the scheduled time. Settings and filters used in the outbound cross reference definition are not saved within the background task, so that you can adjust them and use them for the next scheduled run.