This article applies to:
- WebTrends Firewall Suite 4.X
Question:
How do I schedule multiple Word and Excel reports to run simultaneously?
Symptoms:
- Error: Another copy of MS-Word or MS-Excel is already running. Due to problems running concurrent versions of these Microsoft applications, only one copy of the converter can run at any one time. Do you wish to wait for the previous copy to complete or abort this copy?
Causes:
Due to program limitations in the Microsoft Office tool, which is required by the WebTrends product line to create Microsoft Word and Excel documents that are compatible with Microsoft Office 97, 2000, and XP, the WebTrends products cannot create multiple Microsoft Word or Excel documents at once. If the reports overlap, the above error will result. This can pose a significant scheduling challenge if the user needs to generate a large amount of Excel or Word reports.
Procedure:
Download the file waitforfile.zip from the Article Attachments section below.
Within the downloaded zipped file the following files are contained:
waitforfile.exe
pre1.bat
post1.bat
Extract the file into a working directory and take a look at pre1.bat and post1.bat to see how they might be implemented.
Essentially, 'flag' files in a storage directory should be created, and place a copy of these files into a working directory. Create one flag file for each scheduled event that generates Microsoft Word or Excel reports. Then, use the waitforfile.exe program as a pre-processing command that will look for one of the flags.
If the flag is in place then waitforfile.exe will wait for that flag file to be deleted. When the file is deleted by the previous post processing batch file (see post1.bat), waitforfile.exe will release the pre-processing stage and allow the scheduled event to process the profile. When the profile has finished and created its report, post-processing is engaged and copies the file for which the scheduled event was waiting (so it does not start again until its turn) from the storage directory. It then deletes the file the next scheduled event is looking for from the working directory so that the next job can start.
Notes:
This tool should not be used on scheduled events that are using the same profile as they queue up.
Also, if possible, increase the Simultaneous Processes to the number of events (Microsoft Excel or Word events) that will be running at one time. This prevents a job from becoming stuck in the queue when another is dependent upon it finishing.
- This article was previously published as:
- NETIQKB1110