The fundamental unit of operation in Eraser 6 is the Task. The task represents one unit of work that will be executed. A task has a schedule as well as a set of TARGETS: the schedule defines the time and date that a task will run and the targets define what data needs to be erased. Tasks can be defined by selecting the Erase Schedule drop-down menu, then selecting New Task (or press Ctrl+N). You will then be presented with the Task Properties Dialog.
The Task tab allows you to define the the Task Name, Task Type as well as the data to erase (erasure targets).
The Task Name is a user-defined text which is displayed to you in the scheduler as well as in task notifications. It is otherwise not used by the program at all – it only serves as a reference point for you as a user to know which task the program is referring to. If this is left blank, a program-generated name from the list of erasure targets is used.
The Task Type defines when and how the task will be run:
- If the task is set to Run Manually, then the task is run only when you explicitly request a task to run.
- If the task is set to Run Immediately, after the Task Dialog is closed, the task will run (after all running tasks complete.) Tasks set to Run Immediately will be deleted if Automatically remove tasks which run immediately and completed successfully is checked in the Eraser Settings page. Tasks set to Run Immediately will be reset to Run Manually upon completion of the task; if the task was aborted in the process of execution (e.g. by an application crash) the task will automatically be run again upon program restart.
- If the task is set to Run at Restart, the task will be run when the computer is next restarted. This is useful for erasing files which are currently in use.Tasks set to Run at Restart will be reset to Run Manually upon completion of the task.
Be careful with the Run at Restart option. Eraser does not currently check to ensure that the file being erased is the same file that erasure was requested. This means that if a file was renamed after the task was created, and a new file created in place, the new file would be erased when the system restarts and this will occur without user confirmation!
- If the task is set to Recurring, go to the Schedule to define the frequency of which the task will execute
Erasure targets can be added by clicking on Add Data; editing defined targets is accomplished by double-clicking on a task; deleting targets is accomplished by right-clicking on an erasure target, and selecting Remove from List.