.. _status_of_a_task:

Status of a task
////////////////

Each task in ECFLOW has a **status**. The status reflects the *state* the node is in. In the GUI the background colour of the text reflects the status.

The status of a task can vary as follows (default colours are shown):

-  After the **load(CLI)** command, the status of the tasks is unknown

-  After **begin (CLI)** command the tasks are either queued, complete,
   aborted, or suspended. A suspended task means that the task is really
   queued but it must be **resumed** by the user first before it can be
   submitted.

-  Once the **dependencies** are resolved a task is **submitted** by
   ECFLOW. The status is submitted or aborted (aborted, if scripts not
   found, variable substitution fails, or **ECF_JOB_CMD** failed.)

-  If the submission was successful, then once the job starts, it should
   become active, this achieved when the job calls: **ecflow_client
   --init**

-  Before a job **ends** it may send other messages to ECFLOW such as
   those shown below; these are referred to as :term:`child commands<child command>`:

   .. code-block:: shell

      ecflow_client --event    # Set an event
      ecflow_client --meter    # Change a meter
      ecflow_client --label    # Change a label
      ecflow_client --wait     # Wait for an expression to evaluate
      ecflow_client --abort    # Send an abort message to the task
      ecflow_client --msg      # Write a message line into ecFlow logfile
      ecflow_client --status   # Checks task's status

   Jobs end by becoming either complete or aborted by the job itself sending a message back to ECFLOW server. The complete is set by calling:

   .. code-block:: shell
      
      ecflow_client --complete
      
   in the job file.

- At any time the user can **suspend** a task. The task status is **saved.**
  
The above colours are the default, but they can be changed in the GUI. :numref:`state_change_for_a_task_colour` below shows the normal status changes for a task with default colours:

.. figure:: /_static/ug/status_of_a_task/image1.png
   :width: 5.90069in
   :height: 1.99295in
   :name: state_change_for_a_task_colour

   Status changes for a task