Activation

Activation Type

Defines whether and how the task becomes active. The Automatic and Disabled types are available in the full (registered) version only.

AutomaticFull version only

The task becomes active automatically — without user intervention — on AnyFileBackup startup, user logon, or service logon, depending on the configured working mode.

Manual

The task is inactive by default. It can be activated manually by pressing the Activate Task button in the main window.

DisabledFull version only

The task is permanently inactive and will never start. It cannot be activated manually from the main window. To allow the task to become active, change this setting to Automatic or Manual.

Source File List

The Source file list is a list of files present in Source at the time the list is created. It consists of files' names and properties (size, timestamp). Initially, the Source file list is created at the time of the task's first activation; it is updated later as the task progresses. This option is relevant for tasks whose Primary Filter is not set to No filtering.

Relations between Source file list and Schedule. The task cannot proceed until the Source file list has been fully created. However, it is possible that while the file list is being created, a scheduled event occurs (for example, the scheduled run time becomes due). In this situation AnyFileBackup will:

1. Make a record that the scheduled condition has been satisfied;
2. Continue creating the file list until it is complete; and only after that
3. Proceed further down the task tree.

If the scheduled event occurs more than once while the file list is being created (for example, if the task is set to start every 2 minutes and Source contains one million files), AnyFileBackup will still start the task only once — immediately after the file list is complete. All events that occur during creation count as one.

If available, use previously created file list

The Source file list is (a) created at task activation, (b) updated as required during task performance, and (c) not deleted after deactivation. On the next activation, the already available file list is reused — ensuring continuity of task performance. This is the recommended setting.

If you switch to Always create a new file list upon every task activation, the existing file list will be deleted upon the next deactivation.

Always create a new file list upon every task activation

A new Source file list is created every time the task activates, regardless of whether activation is automatic or manual. Upon deactivation, any existing file list is deleted.

If Source contains a small number of files, creating the file list takes no time. However, if there are millions or billions of files, it may take considerable time and system resources. When many tasks activate simultaneously and each begins creating a file list, system load may increase — consider using Activation Delay (below) to stagger activations.

Activation Delay

Delays task activation by between 1 and 60 seconds. Useful when many tasks activate at the same time (e.g. on AnyFileBackup startup) and each must create a Source file list — staggering activations spreads the load.

Example: tasks 1–20 with a 10-second delay, tasks 21–40 with a 20-second delay, tasks 41–80 with a 30-second delay.

Actions

One or more actions can be attached to the Activation step. They run unconditionally (always) immediately after the step commences. The available action types — Send e-mail, Execute application, Execute task, and Set variable — are described under the Actions heading on the Task Properties section page.

Upon Activation

Task will pause until the scheduled time or event

After activation, the task waits and does not start until its configured schedule conditions are met (a scheduled date and time, a trigger from another task, or a manual start). The task does not run immediately after activation.

Task will start immediately

The task starts performing its configured actions (file copying, monitoring, etc.) immediately after activation, whether activation is automatic or manual. Once complete, the task enters a sleep state and waits for the next scheduled event.