1) are you suggesting reading this : "task=B pretask=makeAServerdown posttask=checkBServer" from some text file.
yes
2) The customizations suggested by you will work if only known action is being called.
yes

If you need arbitrary code execution, write an API for programmers.

I don't see any reason mixing API for programmers and for normal users, nor I don't see use of XML/other formats in API for programmers.

Or, parhaps, I misunderstand the OP.

In reply to Re^3: handling tasks and customizing flow of tasks using perl by vsespb
in thread handling tasks and customizing flow of tasks using perl by asham

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