Getting Started with Task Processing

In this guide, we create a simple task definition and launch the task.

We will start with a pre-packaged task application, which is basically a hello-world-style application that logs the current timestamp. For this guide, we assume that the respective timestamp task application has already been imported and registered with Spring Cloud Data Flow, as described in Short Lived Applications. For a refresher, it can be registered by executing the following Dataflow shell command:

dataflow:> app register --name timestamp --type task --uri maven://io.spring:timestamp-task:2.0.2
SCDF Task Lifecycle

Creating the Task

To create a task:

  1. In the menu, click Tasks.
  2. Click the CREATE TASK button.

    Create Tasks Page

  3. In the text area, type timestamp. This creates a simple task definition that uses the Timestamp task application. The following image shows the Timestamp application:

    Timestamp Task Definition

    Alternatively, you could have also dragged the Timestamp application from the apps palette on the left to the Flo canvas and connected START and END with the task application.

  4. Click Create Task.
  5. Enter timestamp-task as the name, as follows:

    Timestamp Task Definition - Enter Name

  6. Click the CREATE THE TASK button.

    The Task Definitions page appears and lists the created definition (timestamp-task), as follows:

    Timestamp Task Definition List

Running the Task

Now that you have created a task definition, you can run it. To do so:

  1. Click the drop down control on the timestamp-task definition row and click the Launch option, as follows:

    Launch Timestamp Task Definition

    The UI lets you provide additional:

    • Properties: Additional properties meant for a TaskLauncher.
    • Arguments: Any properties that need to be passed as command-line arguments.

    Launch Task - Provide Arguments or Parameters

  2. As we do not need to provide additional argument or parameters, click the LAUNCH TASK button. The UI returns to the task execution page. For now lets select the Tasks option on the left side of the page. This will bring us back to the Task Definition page as follows:

    Task Definitions List with Successful Task Execution

After a few moments, the task definition should show a status of "COMPLETE". You may need to press the REFRESH button to see the updated status.

Verifying the Output

To verify that the output is what you expect:

  1. Click on the Task executions tab, as follows:

    Task Execution List with Successful Task Execution

    You can see your task application with an exit code of 0, indicating a successful execution.

  2. Click on the Execution ID on the row to see even more details, as follows:

    Task Execution Details with Successful Task Execution

If you would also like to see the timestamp log, click the VIEW LOG button on the bottom of the page:

Task Definitions List with Successful Task Execution