Blackouts

Blackouts are user-configured periods of time during which a task is not executed even if it is scheduled to do so. The blackout option enables the use of secondary schedules to run during periods when a primary schedule is inappropriate. Blackouts are used by both the Master Scheduling Service (MSS) for scheduling tasks and the General Notification Service (GNS) for scheduling notifications.

To see a list of the blackouts currently applied to a specific task, view the task properties from the Tasks pane. The Schedule page includes a blackouts section that lists all blackouts that have been assigned to the selected task. See Scheduling a Blackout for more information.

Note: Ctrl+Click and Shift+Click shortcuts are enabled on the Blackouts pane to make multiple changes simultaneously.

Sample MSS Blackouts Page

For more information, see the subsections below:

Blackouts Properties
Blackouts Options

Blackouts Properties

The following table lists and describes properties found on the Blackouts page.

Property	Description
Name	The user-defined name of a blackout.
Type	Indicates one of the following types of task: Day: Uses one or more specified days of the week. Range: Uses a specified date range. List: Uses a list of specified dates.
Days	Indicates the specific days for which a blackout is effective.
Start Date	The start date for a blackout, if applicable.
End Date	The end date for a blackout, if applicable.
Start Time	The start time for a blackout, if applicable.
End Time	The end time for a blackout, if applicable.
Active	Indicates that a task is active (Y) or inactive (N).

Blackouts Options

The following table lists and describes options available from the Blackouts context menu.

Blackouts context menu

Property	Description
New Blackout	Select this option to create a new blackout.
Delete Blackout	Select this option to delete the highlighted blackout.
Properties	Select this option to open a blackout's property sheet. You can also just double-click a blackout to open its property sheet.
Activate	Select this option to activate a highlighted task without opening its property sheet.
Deactivate	Select this option to deactivate a highlighted task without opening its property sheet.
View Tasks	Select this option to view the Tasks page of the MSS.

Scheduling a Blackout