Using conditions to hold jobs back in Schedule by Zaweba
Conditions in Schedule by Zaweba: run only on mains power, on a named network, after the PC is idle, or not during full-screen programs, with skips logged.
A timetable says when a job may run. Conditions say whether it should. Schedule by Zaweba offers four: only on mains power, only on a named network, only if the PC has been idle for a number of minutes, and not while a full-screen program is in front. When a run comes due and a condition is not met, the run is skipped and the history says why.
Conditions are optional and set per job, so you add them only where they help. Many jobs never need one. The ones that do are usually jobs that are heavy, noisy or tied to a place.
Only on mains power
On a laptop, a long job on battery can drain it at the worst moment. A job such as a large backup, a big file conversion or anything that keeps the processor busy for a while is better saved for when the laptop is plugged in. Tick only on mains power and a run that falls due on battery is skipped.
Pair it with the trigger that starts a job when the PC is plugged into mains power, and heavy work can wait for the charger instead of for the clock.
Only on a named network
Some jobs only make sense in one place. A copy to a network drive at the office, a sync with a machine at home, a call to a server on the local network. Off that network, the job will fail anyway, and a failure notification in a café helps nobody. Name the network and the job runs only when you are connected to it.
Only when idle
Idle means nobody has used the PC for the number of minutes you set. It suits jobs that would slow the machine while you work, such as indexing, tidying large folders or long scripts. Set a sensible number, such as 10 or 15 minutes, so a short pause to read something does not count.
There is also a trigger that starts a job when the PC has been idle for a number of minutes. The difference is worth knowing. The trigger starts the job when idle happens. The condition stops a timetabled run from going ahead unless the PC is already idle.
Not while a full-screen program is in front
Presentations, films, games and video calls are often full screen, and that is exactly when a job popping up a window or slowing the PC is least welcome. This condition skips the run while a full-screen program is in front.
It suits jobs that open something, such as a report or a web page, and jobs that are heavy enough to cause a stutter.
Skipped runs and Run now
A skipped run is recorded in the history with the reason, so you can see that the job did not run because the laptop was on battery, rather than wondering whether it ran at all. The history can be filtered by job and by status, so skips are easy to find.
Think about how often the job is due. A job every 15 minutes with an idle condition will get plenty of chances. A job once a week with a network condition might miss its only chance if you are away that day, so choose the timetable with the condition in mind. Catch-up applies to runs missed while Schedule was not running, which is a different situation from a run skipped by a condition.
When you press Run now, the job runs whatever the conditions say. That is deliberate: if you asked for it by hand, you meant it. It is also how you test a job, since you would not want to unplug your laptop just to check a mains-only job works.
Choosing well
Start with no conditions, and add one only when a job has caused a real problem or clearly could. Too many conditions on one job can mean it hardly ever runs. One or two well-chosen ones keep Schedule by Zaweba working around you rather than against you.
