Creating jobs as part of a workflow allows for improved scaling and management of complex, routine workflows, making them easier to understand and complete. The Create Job step can automatically generate dependencies and establish parent-child relationships between jobs to ensure that each part of your business process is maintained.
When the step is run, a job is created from the job template configured in the step and a relationship is established between the new job and the current job, depending on the step's configuration.
Configure the step
Do the following to configure the step:
- Create or edit a workflow diagram to access the Step Library panel.
- Drag Create Job from the Step Library panel to a connection arrow of a step on the workflow canvas.
The Step Details panel appears.
- Provide a name for the step in the Step Name text box.
- Click the Change Input Type drop-down arrow and choose an input type for the Job Template combo box:
- Selection—Choose a job template that corresponds with the type of job you want to create from the Job Template drop-down menu.
- Arcade—Provide an ArcGIS Arcade expression to reference a job template ID.
- Optionally, check the Create as Child Job check box to designate created jobs as children of the active job.
- Optionally, check the Create as Dependency check box to designate created jobs as dependencies of the active job.
All job dependencies must be completed before the next step in the current job can be completed.
- Optionally, check the Create job per array item check box and provide an array in the text box to create a job for each value defined in an array.
Example array:
[1,2,3,4,5]Example array using an Arcade expression:
jobOutputArray($job, '7d586dc3-0c15-40b2-9a51-cb9cfe5d6352')Tip:
Click This input supports Arcade Expressions
and choose an ArcGIS Arcade expression to add it to its associated text box. - Click the Options tab.
- Configure Step Options as necessary.
- Manual—Run the step manually.
- Optional—Allow the step to be finished without being run.
- Automatic—Run the step as soon as it becomes active.
Note:
If your workflow diagram is configured to automatically run a sequence of steps that includes the Evaluate Data Quality or the Run GP Service step, steps that attempt to run after the user token that started the sequence of steps expires will not run automatically. You must have a license for the ArcGIS Workflow Manager Server Advanced role to continue running more automated steps without manual intervention.
- Run on a Schedule—Run the step according to a schedule you set.
- Manual—Run the step manually.
- Optionally, choose one of the following options to configure help in the step:
- None—Configure the step without step help.
- Text—Configure help text for the step in the Text text box.
You can use ArcGIS Arcade expressions to provide a dynamic value for the step help. If the step help contains plain text and Arcade expressions, you must format the text as follows:
'For further assistance, please contact' + JobCreator($Job) + '.' - URL—Configure the step with a link to a help resource in the URL text box.
Note:
Steps run in the web app only support HTTP and HTTPS URL formats. Steps run in ArcGIS Pro support HTTP, HTTPS, and file formats.
You can also use Arcade expressions to provide a dynamic value. If the URL contains plain text and Arcade expressions, you must format the text as follows:
'https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/' + JobExtendedProperty($Job, 'tools', 'toolbox') + '/' + jobExtendedProperty($job, 'tools', 'alias') + '.htm'Configure the Automatically Encode Arcade Result check box:
- If an Arcade expression returns special characters that must be escaped when converted to a URL, such as a space or a forward slash, ensure that the Automatically Encode Arcade Result check box is checked.
- If an Arcade expression is used to form the base URL, uncheck the Automatically Encode Arcade Result check box.
- Optionally, click the Style tab to change the shape and color of the step.
- Optionally, click the About tab and provide a description for the step in the Step Description text box.
Tip:
The About tab also contains the step's ID that can be used with dynamic job properties to obtain a step's output. Click Copy Step ID
to copy the step ID to your clipboard.
Return value
When the step is completed, its return value is stored to indicate the result of the step. The return value can be immediately evaluated using paths to determine the next steps in the workflow. You can also retrieve the return value for completed steps throughout the workflow using ArcGIS Arcade expressions. The following table lists the step's return values:
| Return value | Description |
|---|---|
| S000001 | The step completed successfully. |
F000001 | The step failed to complete successfully. |
Output value
When the step is completed, its output value is stored and can be used to determine the path the workflow follows or can be used as inputs for other steps throughout the workflow. The following table lists the step's output value:
| Output | Description |
|---|---|
<JobID> | Returns the JobID or an array of JobIDs for each created job. |