Microsoft Dynamics SL (Archived)

Task Scheduler and Automating SL

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Posted on by Butch Adams

4,757

I have a VB app that scripts some SL 2011 SP2 actions running without errors from the command line.

I want to run it via task scheduler but it fails with:
Did not receive signal from MSDynamicsSL.

It fails at object creation on the line:

dim sivtb as New SIVToolbar

The only search results I get are some SL related items related to disconnecting from RDP. Has anybody else tried this?

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Erich Strelow F 1,642 on at

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RE: Task Scheduler and Automating SL

I've found this issue a few times. I still don't really get it.

As I've seen, SL is strictly a 2tier application. The SL client works as a presentation layer only. You can do automation and scheduling, but that means we are talking about a presentation layer on steroids, not really a separated layer where you can instantiate business objects.

Operating system wise, this means you got to have a Window station to really make things work. The internal messaging between SL executables need this. No Window station, no message pass through. The web apps manage to bypass this

As a workaround, I setup a separated Application Server to perform the actual tasks. You can still trigger actions through the Application Server task queue. The triggering process can be scheduled and doesn't need the Window Station, but the actual Application Server session does.

Each task under SL could be classified such as:

- Doesn't require a Window Station (i.e.: App Server automation, Web service).

- Requires Window station, but could be minimized or stand by (i.e.: Transaction Import on GL journal, PATRN).

- Requires a Window station with an active Window. (i.e.: Transaction Import on Purchase Orders)

Screen customization may change some screens behavior on this.

As a weird suggestion, watch Inception. Transaction Import, scheduling and automation are all trying to work with a slept SL client and make it work as if an actual user is interacting with it. Sometimes you need to trigger a screen to call on another screen... that's second level dreaming.
Butch Adams 4,757 on at

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RE: Task Scheduler and Automating SL

Mark,

The only answer I came up with is that it will not work without a logged in interactive session. I failed at getting it to run in any way except to log into a console or rdp session and then disconnecting it.
Mark E 6,405 on at

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RE: Task Scheduler and Automating SL

Butch,

I am about to embark on a similar project, creating some SDK .exes that I wan't to run via Windows Task Scheduler. Before I get too far, and run into issues, did you ever get this resolved?

Any tricks to getting the SDK .exe to run? Mine will be running on a PC with SL already running Process Mgr, so I would think it should be fine.

Thanks.