Process Controller

The basic task of the application is the remote control of processes on one or many computers. The Process Controller is an application consisting of the customer’s software and server’s software. The access to the server is possible through the TCP/IP protocol.

The Process Controller has a user interface, which is comfortable to use, allowing the processes to be controlled easily. The first stage of use of the software is the definition of the list of servers, whose processes we intend to control. Then, it is possible to define processes, which contain the following information:

• Route to the practicable software,
• Working catalogue of the process,
• Name of the process,
• Starting parameters of the software,
• The number of restarts of the process after its automatic deactivation,
• The time interval after which the process will be restarted after the automatic deactivation,
• Type of the process programme window.

The list of processes is displayed in the form of a tree, where they are grouped in accordance with the categories. The categories are defined, adding the prefix to the name of the process. One of the more important functionalities of the Process Controller is the possibility of intercepting the standard output of the console programme. In this way it is possible to follow the results of operation of many programmes, switching between them in an easy way. Of course, the processes may be switched on and off both individually and in groups. The Process Controller also allows the possibility of planning the switching on and off and restarting of the processes. The planning may be performed in three categories:

• Performance of an action once on a specific day at a specific hour,
• Performance of an action everyday at the same time,
• Performance of an action every week on specific days and at specific hours.

All this information is stored in the server’s memory, and due to this there is no need to leave the customer activated, in order for the actions to be performed. The Process Controller may connect with many servers at the same time. In this situation, the question of how the problem of synchronisation of the customers will be solved naturally arises. In contrast to the solutions applied before, where the customer must refresh the data to obtain their updated version, the Process Controller does this automatically, so that each customer’s application is immediately notified about the changes made by another application.