Job Processor logins

Job Processor is constantly logging in and out of Vault.  So plugging-in to that app is different than with Vault Explorer, where you assume that the user is mostly staying logged in as a single user.  Job Processor, on the other hand, may have zero, one or two simultaneous log-ins at any given time.

It’s probably best if I just go over Job Processors timeline:

1. Job Processor wakes up.
2. Job Processor logs in to the server, but not to a specific Vault.  This type of log in has limited functionality and does not consume a license.
3. IJobHandler.OnJobProcessorWake is called.
4. Job Processor checks the Job queue.
5. For each job:
   1. Job Processor logs in to a Vault. This part consumes the license.
   2. Job Processor sends the job off to the corresponding handler. (IJobHandler.Execute)
   3. Job Processor logs out of Vault, which frees the license.
6. Job processor logs out of the server.
7. IJobHandler.OnJobProcessorSleep is called.
8. Job processor goes to sleep.
9. Go back to step 1 after X number of minutes.

So yes, at times Job Processor is logged in twice.  Although the same username and password are used, the contexts are different.  For all intents and purposes, they are completely separate log-ins.  Each job gets its own log-in, so your Execute handler should not be remembering anything about the context.  If your plug-in wants to do any useful Vault operations during the Wake or Sleep events, it will have to have its own set of credentials (see Watch Folder 2013).

Here are some other random facts:

• You can query the job queue without being logged into a specific Vault.  However, adding a job to the queue requires you to be logged in to a Vault.
• Speaking of Watch Folder, I hooked it up to our internal Vault at Autodesk.  Every day I get a report of what’s going on in the Vault, and it’s been running solid for the past 8 months.
• IExplorerUtil had a bug that was caused by it remembering the login context.  If you are using IExplorerUtil tool inside Job Processer 2013, make sure to grab the hotfix.
  Note: The hotfix has been rolled up into Service Pack 1.