The External Program is a sub task that is optional and will only be run when configured in the analysis. It can be configured to run either before or after an analysis.
It is triggered to run when the user adds the specific action for this in either the 'Tools before analysis' or the 'Tools after analysis' sections in the Content Enrichment tab of the application configuration.
External program can be said to be an asynchronous process because CAST MS wont wait for the external program to be finished before the next task is started.
A separate log will be generated for the action of the External Program.
Check the below documentation and example screenshots for more information on this step and an example of where it is located in the CAST Management Studio.
8.3.X Documentation: CMS - Content Enrichment tab
The screenshot below shows how Run External Program is configured as a tool before analysis:
Select the log lines that you are interested in from the list below
CAST-MS-<date>-<time>.log.txt log file
Section of CAST-MS log file dealing with External Program step is shown below.
Run External Program Task
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:09: starting Task Run Tool
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:09: starting Task extern1
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: jmce7440w7
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: Task message: No Task message
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: Log file: C:\ProgramData\CAST\CAST\Logs\c\Run_Tool_2169\extern1-20181001-161201.log.txt
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: ending Task extern1
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: Task message: No Task message
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: No associated log file
INF: 2018-10-01 16:12:10: ending Task Run Tool
<external program job name>-<Date>-<Time>.log.txt log file
Example screenshot showing the My External Program being executed:
Sample results of an External Program log (actual results will vary based on the program being run):
Running Tool Section
INF: 2018-10-01 16:20:13: Program: C:\Windows\system32\hostname.exe
INF: 2018-10-01 16:20:13: Arguments: (none)
INF: 2018-10-01 16:20:13: Wait for completion: true
INF: 2018-10-01 16:20:13:
INF: 2018-10-01 16:20:13: jmce7440w7