Some questions about Nprinting - mechanics of scheduler

[renovero]

Hello,

We are working on Nprinting and QlikView in our company.
I'm new at my job and some things are not clear even for my older colleagues, so I decided that I will ask here, at source super users

1. 1. We have some Schedulers:
   X at 8:00
   Y on 9:00
   Z on 11:00

     I have seen that if everything works well and on-time, scheduler works fine.
      But our source data are getting bigger and bigger, and because of that some Task (Job's) are taking longer time to finish – not always,      but sometimes.
      And if Task X will end at 9:05'', Task Y won't start (because it always launch at 9:00, and at that moment it's past that time), the next      one to execute will be task Z.
     Is there a way for NPrinting to launch that task Y, after doing X, even it is a little late?
     Why it leave unexecuted task?

1. 2. We have two sessions on Admin User because we have a lot of tasks to run simultaneously.
   In session 1 we run Sells, in session 2 we run Buys. But when I enter on destination folder to watch logs, there is only one log, witch (I think) is mixed with that two process, it include tasks from Buys and, for example, filters from Sells.
   Is there a way for NPrinting to save two logs?
   Or is it a way to copy logs from NPrinting program window?
   And why, when I exit NPrinting and launch it again (because it crushed) and click ViewLog button in program GUI – the report is blank, lost. Why it doesn't show log again?

1. 3. Is there a way to set up Nprinting to run schedule after finish task which I manually clicked Run-button?
   It will be huge help, because after crush I have to manually run not-accomplished task, and I would like for Program, to run Schedule after finished.

1. 4. Is there a way to schedule a program restart at some time (f. ex. at 3:00 a.m.)? And after that to run it again with scheduler started.
   
   
   

     1. 5. What is causing this errors :
a) "Error: Access violation at address 01B6ABCD in module 'NPrinting.exe'. Read of address 00000000" - is it error in access to file?
b) "Error: Class unregistered, ClassID: {00020819-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}" - is it problem with filter?
c) "Error: Rpc server is unavailable" - is it problem with internet connection?

Thank You, for Your help ,
if You have answer for any of my questions I will be glad to read it

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

Hi Sebastian...

You forgot about the most important thing - version of Qlik and NPrinitng.

With version 17 everything what you described would be piece of cake as chaining can be done via API and QMC.. but before i proceed any further  i will wait for your response..

cheers

Lech

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

few more comments:

To cut story short - there i s not much within NPrinting 16 you can use to slove all your issues but...

• I had another thought and it looks like you are using version 16...so:
  • It also looks like you are trying to run parallel nprinitng sessions - however NPrinitng 16 is not desigend to do this.. that is why you are probably getting issues with logs overlapping, I would suggest to run chaining there too
  • You can create a batch file which will trigger nprinitng task and get it running of Execute command from Qlik Script so you could create chaining in QMC
  • Looks like ou are running NPrining designer, not NPrintign server instance - which is not a best practice i would say..
  • regarding program restart - again - looks like you are using desktop version of designer, normaly you would just schedule in windows scheduler service restart
  • regardsing error - since nprinitng is not designed to run in parallel sessions and you are doing this you can face issues when accessing nsq files maybe? that is when file gets locked by one session and you are trying to access it with another session?? I am not sure, but since it is not designed to do i would first eliminated not supported configurations.

cheers

Lech

[renovero]

Hello Lech

I'm really happy, that You have respond to my questions.

About versions of programs which we are using :

About NPrinting :
NPrinting Designer
Verion 16.6.0.0 (SR6)

We use it on Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64 bit

About Qlik:
QlikView 12
Version 12.10.20500.0 SR7

we use it on Windows Server 2012 Standard 64 bit

Last time when I have checked - our version of QlikView was actual. About NPrinting - You said, that newer version of Designer is free of problems which I have described?

In addition to my questions and Your answers:

1. 1. and 1. 3 - You say that chaining would resolve problem with skipping tasks in scheduler? Is it a new function in newer version of Nprinting accessed via GUI? I thought that scheduler would work that way - if any task take longer time to execute, all abandoned task will start immediately after finish previous one - but as I can see - it won't.

1. 2. - I understand, NPrinting was not designed for run in parallel sessions and it causes problems with logs. But what's about copying log from program window, or showing log after restart?

1. 4. I have found this parameters : /NprintingFile, /Job, /Schedule, /ExcelReport, /Report, I wrote a .bat file and enter it in Windows Scheduler Task, so I think - problem solved.

1. 5. Errors could accrue because we use two sessions of NPrinting, but I think it's not the case, maybe point a), but b) and c) I think take touch with other problem.

I assume, that (Your suggestion) NPrinting Server requires another licence? I had seen NPrinting on Demand (?) app too.

Thank You and take care!

If someone would add something to our discussion, I will be glad, too.

[Lech_Miszkiewicz · Accepted solution]

Hi Sebastian,

establishing your knowledge around NPrinitng versions would be a great start.

The latest version 16 is 16.8, but functionalities i was talking about are in completly different product NPrinitng 17.X or 18.X. The latest version of it is June 2018 and it is completly different setup in terms of environment. In terms of report templates it is 99% the same as your version, but environment is completly different allowing multiple task to run at the same time, with web based console, dedicated server, web server, and engine... repository taking care of storage of templates in DB, API's etc.

Since you already have nprinitng you might want to talk to Qlik and discuss if they could convert your license to support new product.

Now anserws to your question:

Chaining - I would hope that scheduler should run one task after another. It looks like once task looses it chance to run it probably times out therefore i suggested chaining with batch file.. Using a method you have described you can set it up so it runs properly.

Logs - again - it was not designed to do what you are doing. Designer was never meant to run as an automated setup. Logs meant to be viewed during design and testing and that was it. Out of curiosity - Since i have not used version 16 for more than 2 years as i moved to version 17&18 do you have a log setup in settings where you can specify folder where log files are stored? If you do and if you would run task in chains rather then in parallel then you would end up with full log.

Errors:

One error can lead to another

error a.) - we agreed that it could be caused by running parallel sessions

the other errors:

RPC server unavailable - i remember causing this error when messing up with session 0 when task was running. essentialy it was caused when NPrinitng process was not able to access QlikView. I am not an expert in this area, i only recall some observation from the past, so please take my words via double filter regarding this

regarding licensing - talk to your partner. If you don't have one let me know and i can point you to some experienced partners who can do demo for you of NPrinting June 2018 and discuss licensing deal (i am assuming you are from Poland ).

cheers

Lech

[renovero]

Hello Lech,

Thank You, for Your help.
I will get in touch with Qlik Partners, I assume - Humansoft in our case.
If there is a way to test NPrinting first before change, it will be great, I hope it is possible.

Did you have problems with moving from 16 to 17, or 18? All works fine, without errors? Is it complicated?

And about chaining, u mean to do something like that ? :

start /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\NPrinting\Client\" NPrinting.exe /NprintingFile "C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Sprzedaz_biezaca.nsq" /Job "sprzedarz8:00"

start /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\NPrinting\Client\" NPrinting.exe /NprintingFile "C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Sprzedaz_biezaca.nsq" /Job "sprzedarz9:00"

start /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\NPrinting\Client\" NPrinting.exe /NprintingFile "C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Sprzedaz_biezaca.nsq" /Job "raport"

It will be executed after each other, or I have  to set some kind of waiting? I think that NPrinting will be open three times that way, am I right? 

Take care!

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

Hi Sebastian,

I am not expert in cmd commands so i do not know what will happen. The idea is to have each task running alone.

Regarding having NPrinitng June 2018 organized - yes, it should be possible to arrange trial / migration license so you could test it first.

Migration might be painful though - it really depends on your setup, reports you send, recipients, filters etc. If you lucky you might be able to migrate your templates. For me NPrintin 17+ is a different product than NPrinitng 16 as it uses completely different technology. Some migration tools are available but not always they can be used.

go to help.qlik.com search for NPrinting section and read it. There is a comparison section at the beginning comparing functionalities and features between v16 and 17+. There are also requirements - NPrinting 17+ needs a dedicated server and cannot run on the same box with QlikView is one of them. There is plenty other requirements.

It is really client based case study. Since i am partner i went across some simple migration and some very complex. All over all i think NPrinting June 2018 (and above) is the way to go forward as it is more scalable

cheers

Lech

[renovero]

Thank You for Your help.