External Command activity

An activity that specifies a command line action, such as a DOS or UNIX command, that a process runs started from a process.

Configure the External Command activity

To configure the External Command activity, do the procedure in this topic.

In most text fields, you can use process data variables as an alternative to literal data values.
You can configure whether this activity waits for other activities before it runs.
For more information, refer to How Do I Configure an Activity to Wait for Other Incoming Activities?
Some information about third-party integrations is outside the scope of the AgilePoint NX Product Documentation, and it is the responsibility of the vendors who create and maintain these technologies to provide this information. This includes specific business uses cases and examples; explanations for third-party concepts; details about the data models and input and output data formats for third-party technologies; and various types of IDs, URL patterns, connection string formats, and other technical information that is specific to the third-party technologies. For more information, refer to Where Can I Find Information and Examples for Third-Party Integrations?

On the Application Explorer screen, do one of these:
- Open a Process.
- Create a Process.
Do one of these:
- Add an activity:
  1. In the Process Builder, in the Activity Library, open the Utilities tab.
  2. On the Utilities tab, drag the External Command activity onto your process.
- Change an activity:
  1. In your process, double-click your activity.

Complete the fields on the General Configuration screen.
For more information, refer to Configure General Options for the External Command Activity.
Click External Command .
Complete the fields on the Configuration for calling External Command screen.
For more information, refer to Do a Loop to Repeat an Action.
(Optional) Click Advanced > E-mail Notifications .
For more information, refer to Configure E-mail Notifications for Any Activity.

Specifies the basic settings for the External Command activity.

Field Name	Definition
Display Name	Function: Specifies the activity name that shows in your process. Accepted Values: One line of text that can have spaces. Default Value: None Accepts Process Data Variables: No Example: This is a common configuration field that is used in many examples. Refer to: Examples - Step-by-step use case examples, information about what types of examples are provided in the AgilePoint NX Product Documentation, and other resources where you can find more examples.
Description	Function: Specifies an optional text description for your activity. Accepted Values: More than one line of text. Default Value: None Accepts Process Data Variables: No
Connection Timeout (Seconds)	Function: Specifies the number of seconds permitted to complete an action before the connection stops. Accepted Values: An integer, representing a number of seconds. Default Value: 600 Accepts Process Data Variables: No

Specifies the details for calling an external command.

Field Name	Definition
Environment Variable	Function: Specifies a set of dynamic named values that controls how processes run on a computer. Accepted Values: An environment variable that exists on the target machine. Default Value: None Accepts Process Data Variables: No Example: Path
Command	Function: Specifies a command or executable to run. Accepted Values: A valid command or executable name. Default Value: None Accepts Process Data Variables: Yes Example: CMD
Arguments	Function: Specifies the parameters necessary to complete the command. Accepted Values: A valid argument for the specified command. Default Value: None Accepts Process Data Variables: Yes Example: DIR
Return Value (Get Console Output Value)	Function: Stores output in specified process data variable. Accepted Values: A process data variable. Default Value: None Accepts Process Data Variables: Yes