Beginning with HCL Nomad Web 1.0.4, select MarvelClient actions can run in the background after the client has started.
This can be used to optimize the startup time for Nomad Web, potentially reducing the amount of time between when a user logs in and when their workspace is ready to use.
Requirements
- HCL Nomad Web 1.0.4 or higher
- MarvelClient Config Template version 20220701145300 or higher
Before You Get Started
If you have an older version of the Config template, you can run Online Update to get the latest version that has been assigned to your account. If the template still isn't new enough, active licensed users can contact panagenda support.
Setting Actions to Run in the Background
You can set an action to run in the background if the action supports it, and if you have selected Nomad as one of the platforms.
You will see the new "Nomad background" runtime at the top of the action form, and one or more of the runtimes will have a colored background that can be selected:
The background runtimes are:
| Background Initial | will run in the background once, 60 seconds after login * |
|---|---|
| FSAC (First Server Access) | will run in the background the first time any Notes process accesses a server (e.g. checking mail or opening a remote database) |
| Background | will run in the background 60 seconds after login, and again every hour * |
* see below for details about changing the default intervals for Background and Background Initial
Combining Background and Non-Background Runtimes
In some cases it might make sense to run an action with both a background and a non-background runtime.
For example, you might set a Mass Change action to run After Login to make sure it's finished before the user starts using their client, and also set it to run as Background so it continues to run every hour in case the user has accidentally opened databases on a server that the Mass Change action would have modified.
Which Actions Can Run in the Background?
The following actions can use the new Nomad background runtime:
- Mass Change
- Mass Delete
- Workspace Page
- Application/Mailfile
- Configure Workspace
- Location Document
- Connection Document
- ECL
- Nomad Recent Apps
Notes.ini Settings that Affect Background Actions
| setting | values | default | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MC_NomadBackgroundInitialWait | number (seconds) | 60 | The time before MarvelClient first downloads new configuration data and processes actions that are set to run in the background |
| MC_NomadBackgroundInterval | number (seconds) | 3600 | The number of seconds to wait between repeating Background action executions |
Caveats and Things to Know
Background actions that modify the workspace (e.g. Workspace Page or Desktop Icon) can cause the Notes workspace to dynamically reload after the action has run. If the user currently has a workspace tab open in the UI, the tab will be closed and then reopened. This is necessary to make the workspace changes visible to the user.
If the workspace tab is not open, the background changes will not cause any UI reloads.
Most MarvelClient actions are very fast, and changing them ONLY to background runtimes would result in little to no noticeable startup time improvements. However, admins can test these runtimes to see if it makes sense to change them in their environments.