Robot/SCHEDULE is easy-to-use, powerful, job scheduling software for Power Systems running IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400). Batch job creation and scheduling is at the heart of Robot/SCHEDULE. Whether you want to create a time-based schedule, an event-driven schedule, or a combination of the two, Robot/SCHEDULE offers everything you need. By automating job scheduling and batch job management, Robot/SCHEDULE frees you and your operators to make everyone more productive.

Enterprise Scheduling At-A-Glance
Robot/SCHEDULE’s intuitive graphical user interface, the Robot/SCHEDULE Explorer, lets you control your entire job schedule directly from your PC. From the Robot/SCHEDULE Explorer, you can quickly display, launch, and use powerful Robot/SCHEDULE tools, such as the Schedule Activity Monitor, Job Completion History, the Job Schedule List, and Job Schedule Blueprints.

Multi-Platform Support
Robot/SCHEDULE works with Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise to provide job scheduling for the Windows, UNIX, and Linux servers connected to your IBM i system. Use Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise to create an IBM i-centric, event-driven schedule across multiple servers.

With Robot/SCHEDULE, you can select from more than 25 scheduling options, such as day-of-the-week, to handle any job schedule. For example, you can schedule jobs by date, by time interval, or by exception (deviations from your normal schedule). Just enter your jobs and specify when should run.

Flexible Job Control Options

In addition to its normal submit job options, Robot/SCHEDULE brings even more flexibility to your job scheduling. Enter instructions for what Robot/SCHEDULE should do if the job needs operator attention, including sending a message or an SNMP trap using Robot/ALERT, the message notification software.

Sophisticated Calendars

With more than 90 calendar options, Robot/SCHEDULE can adapt to any work schedule or fiscal year. Use calendars to define your standard working and nonworking days, and fiscal month ends. Robot/SCHEDULE runs each job based on the calendar attached to the job.

Custom Job Streams

You can build customized procedures using different programs and commands. For example, group your jobs for weekly, monthly, and annual closings to ensure that programs run in the correct sequence and you'll never have to worry about processing errors. Or, use Robot/SCHEDULE with Robot/SAVE, the backup and recovery software, to schedule and automate your daily backups.

Event-driven scheduling takes automation beyond calendars. Your schedule runs automatically based on events completing—the completion of Event A triggers the start of Event B. This makes your schedule more efficient because you don’t have to build in large gaps of time to “allow” for late-running or slow-starting jobs. The result—your schedule is more fluid, more flexible, and runs more smoothly with fewer errors.

Business Process (Workload) Automation

Robot/SCHEDULE lets you automate jobs and processes that aren’t simply time-based. For example, you need to run a report process after you’ve received the latest sales figures for the day. Or, you want your backup to run when a specific tape device becomes available. Either way, Robot/SCHEDULE handles it automatically.

Reactive Scheduling

Reactive jobs are the key to event-driven scheduling. Reactive jobs run only if certain prerequisite conditions are met. A prerequisite condition can be the completion of another Robot/SCHEDULE job, a PC event, a job starting or ending on another system, and more.

Robot/SCHEDULE lets you group and schedule reactive jobs to minimize downtime, automate processes, reduce your overhead, and handle complex scheduling requirements.

Some automation situations are more difficult than others. Maybe you have processes that run only at certain times on certain dates. Or, maybe you need to automate interactive processes that normally require a person to be available.

Dynamic Parameters

When you need to enter dynamic values, such as job date, system time, or the operator on duty, into your job, Robot/SCHEDULE reserved command variables are perfect. At run time, Robot/SCHEDULE replaces each variable with its corresponding system value and uses the information to execute the job.

Scripting Language—OPAL

Robot/SCHEDULE’s powerful operations scripting language, OPAL (OPerator Assistance Language), lets you handle complex scheduling options, check job prerequisites, and monitor events. With OPAL, you can easily automate even the most complex automation situations.

Exporting and Importing

Robot/SCHEDULE makes it easy to distribute custom scripts across your systems to streamline tasks, automate processing, and reduce errors. From one central location, you can maintain and manage specialized processing instructions for all of your systems.

Automate Interactive Processing

How do you automate the interactive applications that usually require someone to fill in screens before submitting a batch job? Robot/REPLAY the Robot/SCHEDULE plug-in, automates interactive processes by “learning” the screens and information you enter to create a Replay object. Then, when Robot/SCHEDULE executes the object, Robot/REPLAY runs your interactive application—automatically.

Learn more about automating interactive processes with Robot/REPLAY.

If you’re typical of many of the companies that use Power Systems running IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400), you’re involved with Service Level Agreements (SLAs), compliance reporting, auditing, and more. Robot/SCHEDULE offers powerful functionality to help you manage each area.

Auditing, Compliance, and Security

The Robot/SCHEDULE audit log is a big help for reaching HIPAA, PCI, Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance, and more. It records who created a new job, who changed the job setup or commands, or who forced a job to run outside its scheduled time. For example, its Audit Log Report provides the complete audit trail of jobs required by SOX auditors.

Meanwhile, Robot/SCHEDULE’s internal security goes beyond IBM i security to help you control user access to specific functions, data, and Robot/SCHEDULE jobs.

Service Level Agreements

Robot/SCHEDULE’s job monitors help ensure that you’ll meet your Service Level Agreements. You can specify what Robot/ SCHEDULE should do in case a job runs too long, completes too quickly, or starts late. You can end the job or send a message to a queue.

If you have Robot/ALERT, the IBM i event notification software, or Robot/NETWORK, the IBM i network management software, you can be notified with a text, e-mail, or pager message, or by a message in the Robot/NETWORK Status Center. When you’ve agreed to provide a certain service level, Robot/SCHEDULE helps you keep your word.

Job History Reporting and More

The Robot/SCHEDULE Job Completion History provides a complete record of all the batch jobs running and completed. You can track all of the jobs on your system—perfect for when the auditors come calling. Plus, Robot/SCHEDULE’s Good Morning Report summarizes your job processing during whatever time period you specify.

Automate Report Management

Robot/SCHEDULE offers a complete set of reports to help you manage, monitor, and maintain your job schedule and product setup. In addition to Robot/SCHEDULE’s suite of job management reports, you can add Robot/REPORTS, the complete report management solution, to automate report creation, bursting, distribution, and archival. Robot/REPORTS also converts reports to HTML and PDF formats for online viewing as part of your complete, enterprise-wide report management solution.

Learn more about automating report management with Robot/REPORTS.