ColourStream Cron Bundle

This bundle provides a simple interface for registering repeated scheduled tasks within your application, including support for installs where the host does not allow for command-line access (TODO).

This bundle is tested only against Symfony 2.1. It will likely work with Symfony 2.0, but YMMV

Installation

Installing this bundle can be done through these simple steps:

1. Add the bundle to your project as a composer dependency:

// composer.json
{
    // ...
    require: {
        // ...
        "colourstream/cron-bundle": "dev-master"
    }
}

2. Update your composer installation:

composer update

3. Add the bundle to your application kernel:

// application/ApplicationKernel.php
public function registerBundles()
{
	// ...
	$bundle = array(
		// ...
        new ColourStream\Bundle\CronBundle\ColourStreamCronBundle(),
	);
    // ...

    return $bundles;
}

4. Update your DB schema

app/console doctrine:schema:update

4. Start using the bundle:

app/console cron:scan
app/console cron:run

Running your cron jobs automatically

This bundle is designed around the idea that your tasks will be run with a minimum interval - the tasks will be run no more frequently than you schedule them, but they can only run when you trigger then (by running app/console cron:run, or the forthcoming web endpoint, for use with webcron services).

To facilitate this, you can create a cron job on your system like this:

*/5 * * * * /path/to/symfony/install/app/console cron:run

This will schedule your tasks to run at most every 5 minutes - for instance, tasks which are scheduled to run every 3 minutes will only run every 5 minutes.

Creating your own tasks

Creating your own tasks with CronBundle couldn't be easier - all you have to do is create a normal Symfony2 Command (or ContainerAwareCommand) and tag it with the @CronJob annotation, as demonstrated below:

use ColourStream\Bundle\CronBundle\Annotation\CronJob;

/**
 * @CronJob(interval="PT1H", start="2013-05-14 08:30:12", timezone="Europe/London")
 */
class DemoCommand extends Command
{
    public function configure()
    {
		// Must have a name configured
		// ...
    }
    
    public function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
    {
		// Your code here
    }
}

The interval spec (interval="PT1H" in the above example) is documented on the DateInterval documentation page, and can be modified whenever you choose. The text "interval" may be ommitted making the call just @CronJob("PT1H").

The start spec (start="2013-05-14 08:30:12" in the above example) is the time and start to start your job, this must be in Y-m-d H:i:s format. If the start date has already past then the specified interval will be added to it until it is past the current time and date. This will default to the date/time that the scan was made.

default: now \DateTime()

The timezone spec (timezone="Europe/London" in the above example) is the timezone for the specified start date. The available timezones can be found on List of Supported Timezones documentation page. This will default to the timezone on the server.

default: date_default_timezone_get()

For your CronJob to be scanned and included in future runs, you must first run app/console cron:scan - it will be scheduled to run the next time you run app/console cron:run. Changes will only be recognised when the interval has changed.