Job Schedule

You have a lot of flexibility in scheduling conversion jobs. You can specify how often QuikFile searches for new files and you can limit conversions to specific blocks of time.

To see the scheduling options, add or edit a conversion job and set the job type to Scheduled Job. Then set the schedule on the Schedule tab.

Scanning Interval – Important Guidelines

With any scheduled job, you need to tell QuikFile how often to check for new (or additional) files. Follow these guidelines:

Small Source Folder

If the source folder never has more than a hundred or so files in it, and it gets emptied every time QuikFile finishes its conversions, set the interval low. Somewhere in the range of every minute to five minutes would be fine.

The classic example here is a network scanner. Network scanners put new scans in a folder. You would want QuikFile to check this folder frequently, and you’d usually have QuikFile move the converted scans into their final location, which means the scanner’s folder is always getting emptied.

Large Source Folder

If your source folder has thousands and thousands of files in it, you’re better off having QuikFile only check it for new files once or twice a day. Crawling through huge numbers of files can slow your computer down, so you don’t want that happening every couple of minutes.

The classic example here is when you’re converting a huge repository of files. There is no reason to check this very often for new files. Instead, have it check for files just once or twice a day, and set the Queue Limit at a reasonable level for what can be converted in that time frame (see General Settings for more information on the queue limit).

Job Schedules

There are three schedule types:

Always

Think of this as a timer. Every time the scan interval goes off, QuikFile checks for new files and loads them into the queue. The conversions themselves run constantly, as long as there are files in the queue.

Daily

Think of this as a window. You set a start time and an end time. QuikFile will only look for new files and convert them during this block of time.

Weekly

This is also a window, just like a Daily schedule, except that it can span multiple days.

Daily and Weekly schedules have a start time and an end time. The job will begin at the start time and continue to search for new files until the end time. For weekly jobs, the end time can be on a different day. This lets a job run only on the weekend, for example.

If your start time is later than your end time, the job will begin at the start time, continue running past midnight, and pause at the end time. For example, if your start time is 6:00 PM and your end time is 6:00 AM, the job will run through the night and pause at 6:00 AM. This is useful when you want to have a job run after-hours, but not run during the day.

When the end time arrives, QuikFile will pause any further conversions for that job until the job becomes active again. If it is in the middle of a file, it will finish that file before it pauses. QuikFile will continue processing files for other active jobs, if any.

Schedules A & B

Note that if you have a Daily or Weekly schedule, you can set up an optional second schedule. For example, use this option to convert files overnight on weekdays and all day on weekends. Set Schedule A to Daily from 6:00 PM - 6:00 AM. Set Schedule B to Weekly from 12:00 AM Saturday - 11:59 PM Sunday.

QuikFile will ignore any overlap between the schedules.

To omit the second schedule, set it to Never.

Batch Files

Another option to consider for large jobs is using Batch Files to populate the queue instead of having QuikFile look for files to convert. When the scheduled interval comes around, QuikFile will check for a new list of files to convert, then add those files to the queue. See Conversion Job Options for more information.