Introducing Pegasus Scheduler

Pegasus Scheduler is a multifunctional sister application of Pegasus Opera 3 that provides these additional rich features:

Scheduling tasks to run out of office hours. Running some tasks during normal working hours can interrupt other essential daily processing tasks in Opera 3 and reduce data processing time. This can disrupt the day-to-day running of your business. Using Task Scheduler Editor screen you can plan and process the tasks outside of your normal working day and be confident that your staff can carry out their normal day to day processing tasks without interruption.
Emailing Debt Management PDF correspondence and email covers to customers from the Credit Management Centre in the Sales Ledger. Only customers who are set up for email are included.
Emailing PDF payslips and P60s to employees in secure PDF format - protected by a password that is recorded in the Payroll application. Only employees who are set up for email are included.
Providing a secure method by which Pegasus Opera 3 submits your VAT Return to HMRC using the Making tax Digital for VAT service.

You must have an SMTP email server to use the email features in Pegasus Scheduler.

There are several tasks that you can schedule in Pegasus Opera 3, including routine daily tasks like backing up your data or monthly tasks like running a Nominal Ledger Period End. These tasks need exclusive access to your data, meaning that all your users must log out of Opera 3 before they can be run.

Pegasus Scheduler uses Microsoft SQL Server for the data store. For the supported Microsoft SQL Server editions, please check the Software Requirements guide on the Pegasus Help Centre.

Scheduled Tasks

Application	Task
Set up in the Task Scheduler
System Manager	Update Data Structures
Backup
Tidy System
Nominal Ledger	Period End
Rebuild Periods
Rebuild History
Sales Ledger	Period End
Purchase Ledger	Period End
Pegasus Web Xchange	Reorganising the Web Xchange Audit files
Set up in Opera 3
Invoicing/SOP	Repeat Invoices
Reorganise
Stock Control	Period End
Purchase Order Processing	Reorganise

Certain processes have additional settings that you need to choose, for example, when running the Reorganise System Files command in Opera 3, you can choose to tidy one or more category of files - like system files, spool files, temporary files and event log files. When you schedule a task in the Task Scheduler, you also have the choice to include one or more category of files.

Even though you will be able to select all the tasks, it would only make sense to do so if you use the respective application in Pegasus Opera 3.

Chained Tasks

If you need more than one task to be processed in sequence you can link them together using a Chain task. You do not need to schedule each task in the chain. The first task is scheduled to run at the required time and the next tasks will follow automatically.

Before a task can be included in a chain, it must be given a Schedule Type of Can be included in Chains. You can define which companies the task applies to and the relevant options for the task, but you do not need to either schedule it or provide Windows' user details.

Show ...

After a task has been set up as Can be included in Chains it can then be chosen to include in a Chain task using the Task Steps section of the Task form. This task links all the required tasks together so that they can be processed in sequence. You can change the position of each step after it has been added to the chain. A chain can be set up to stop further processing if errors or warnings are encountered or to continue to the next task even if errors or warnings are found.

Show ...

Important: Tasks can be set up by anyone who has access to the Task Scheduler, even if they cannot access the command in Opera 3. For example, if a user does not have access to the Period End command in the Nominal Ledger, they can still set up and run a task to do the Period End in the Task Scheduler. Care must therefore be taken to allow access to the Task Scheduler only for the people that have the responsibility to run these tasks.

Task Scheduler Forms

Section	Description
Task Schedule Editor	This section displays the tasks that have been defined in the Task Scheduler. It displays the name, description, type of task and the last time the task was run. You create new tasks, edit tasks and delete tasks from this form.
New Task	This is used to create new tasks to be run in the Task Scheduler. You can choose to create a task from a list for specific days in a week, specific dates in a month or on a specific date. You can also specify a time for the task.
Edit Task	This is used to edit tasks that have also been set up in the Task Scheduler.
View last Run Details	This displays the details of last time the task was run.
View History	This displays the history of all the times the task was run.
Set Options	The Set Options form is used to capture Opera 3 user and group codes for those people who are responsible for scheduling repeat invoicing tasks created in the Sales Order Processing or Invoicing applications. This form is also used to capture email server settings, which must be entered for email debt correspondence, payslips and P60s generated in Opera 3.

Additional Systems

You can define tasks to be run for several companies consecutively. If you use the 'Additional Systems' feature in Opera 3, which allows you to have more than 36 companies in the application, you can also define tasks to be run in companies in more than one additional system at the same time.

Shutdowns, Lockouts & Messages

Opera 3 Notification Services is available in Scheduler. Notification Services includes the options to shutdown Opera 3 and force everyone out of the product, deny access to new users of Opera 3 without forcing existing users out or send a defined message to all users before a task is run.

When a new task is created you can choose a notification type, enter a desired message and the amount of time it should be displayed to all Opera 3 users. Show ...