Add sample schedule script and update README on how to schedule runs

README.md

@@ -284,6 +284,49 @@ you will change the columns of the 'commcare_locations' table and it is
 very likely you will want to drop the table before exporting with the new
 organization.
 
+Scheduling the DET
+------------------
+Scheduling the DET to run at regular intervals is a useful tactic to keep your 
+database up to date with CommCare HQ.
+
+A common approach to scheduling DET runs is making use of the operating systems' scheduling
+libraries to invoke a script to execute the `commcare-export` command. Sample scripts can be
+found in the `examples/` directory for both Windows and Linux.
+
+### Windows
+On Windows systems you can make use of the [task scheduler](https://sqlbackupandftp.com/blog/how-to-schedule-a-script-via-windows-task-scheduler/)
+to run scheduled scripts for you.
+
+The `examples/` directory contains a sample script file, `scheduled_run_windows.bat`, which can be used by the
+task scheduler to invoke the `commcare-export` command. 
+
+To set up the scheduled task you can follow the steps below.
+1. Copy the file `scheduled_run_windows.bat` to any desired location on your system (e.g. `Documents`)
+2. Edit the copied `.bat` file and populate your own details
+3. Follow the steps outlined [here](https://sqlbackupandftp.com/blog/how-to-schedule-a-script-via-windows-task-scheduler/),
+using the .bat file when prompted for the `Program/script`.
+
+
+### Linux
+On a Linux system you can make use of the [crontab](https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/crontab)
+command to create scheduled actions (cron jobs) in the system.
+
+The `examples/` directory contains a sample script file, `scheduled_run_linux.sh`, which can be used by the cron job.
+To set up the cron job you can follow the steps below.
+1. Copy the example file to the home directory
+> cp ./examples/scheduled_run_linux.sh ~/scheduled_run_linux.sh
+2. Edit the file to populate your own details
+> nano ~/scheduled_run_linux.sh
+3. Create a cron job by appending to the crontab file
+> crontab -e
+
+Make an entry below any existing cron jobs. The example below executes the script file at the top of
+every 12th hour of every day
+> 0 12 * * * bash ~/scheduled_run_linux.sh
+
+You can consult the [crontab.guru](https://crontab.guru/) tool which is very useful to generate and interpret
+any custom cron schedules. 
+
 Python Library Usage
 --------------------
 

examples/scheduled_run_linux.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+commcare-export --output-format <output_format> \
+ --output <db_connection_string> \
+ --query <path_to_query_file> \
+ --project <domain> \
+ --commcare-hq https://commcarehq.org \
+ --auth-mode apikey \
+ --password <password>

examples/scheduled_run_windows.bat

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+commcare-export --output-format <output_format> ^
+ --output <db_connection_string> ^
+ --query <path_to_query_file> ^
+ --project <domain> ^
+ --commcare-hq https://commcarehq.org ^
+ --auth-mode apikey ^
+ --password <password>