Define a Run a Program Action for a One-Step

Use the Run a Program Action to launch any program that can be run from a Windows command line. For example, add a One-Step to a button, link, menu bar, or task pane of an Incident Record so that Technicians can run a program to reset a password, page a technician, or ping a server directly from a record.

To define a Run a Program Action:

1. Create a One-Step.
2. On the General page in the One-Step window (accessed from within the One-Step Manager), click Add, and then select Run a Program.

   The Run Program window opens.

   

3. Define general properties for the Run a Program Action:
   • Name: Provide a display name for the Action (this is how the Action is identified in the One-Step interface).
   • Filename: Provide the name of the program or file to launch, or click the Ellipses button to navigate to the program or file.
   • Start In: If the program or file should start running in a particular directory, provide the name of that directory or click the Ellipses button to navigate to the directory. If no directory is specified, the current working directory is used (this is usually the directory from which CSM was launched).
4. Define command-line arguments:
   • Provide any arguments that must be passed to the program.
   • Click the Selector button to open the Token tree and insert Business Object Fields (from the active Business Object and all of its related objects), system functions, Expressions, Stored Values, Counters, filenames, or variables directly into the text. These are passed to the program as parameters.
5. Define how the One-Step should interact with the program:
   • Wait for Program to End before Continuing: Select this check box to have the One-Step wait until the program finishes executing before continuing to the next Action.

     Note: The next two options are only available if you select Wait for Program to End before Continuing.

   • Timeout after X Seconds: Select this check box to have the One-Step either wait until the program is finished executing or the specified number of seconds has passed.
   • Store Exit Code from Program: Select this check box to have CSM store the program’s return code for use in future One-Step Actions. Then, provide a name for the variable that will hold the return code. It is then available as a variable in the system.

     Note: This is not required; however, in most cases, you want to store the program result so that you can do something with it (ex: Create a Journal that records the result).

6. Define how the program should run:
   • Run: In the drop-down, select the type of window to run the program in.
     • Normal Window: Select this option to have the program run in a normal size window
     • Minimized: Select this option to have the program run in a minimized window (shown in taskbar).
     • Maximized: Select this option to have the program run in a maximized window (fills entire computer screen).
     • With No Window: Select this option to have the program run without being shown in a window.
   • Custom Run Verb: Provide an additional parameter that tells the program how to run (if the program requires one).

     Note: Some common verbs are NEW, OPEN, EDIT, and PRINT. Consult your program’s documentation to find out what verbs are available. If the program makes its list of supported verbs available, they are displayed in the drop-down.

   • Pause after Run: Select this check box to have the One-Step pause for a few extra seconds after running the program before continuing to the next Action. Then, specify the number of seconds the One-Step should pause.
7. Click OK.