Use the available tools to make the conversion smooth and painless

Robot/SCHEDULE 10.0 is a great new release with many wonderful new features and Help/Systems has some tools to make the conversion process run smoothly.

Run the pre-checker program
The first tool is a pre-checker program. The pre-checker program checks to see if the conversion will complete successfully. We highly recommend running this program to help you identify issues that need to be resolved before you can have a successful conversion.

If the pre-checker fails, execute the WRKSPLF command and locate the RBTINSTP log. Read the log and look for statements marked F (for failure). Determine why each statement failed, correct the issue(s), and rerun the pre-checker program until it runs successfully.

Why might the pre-checker fail? A common reason is that there are locks on Robot/SCHEDULE files. Execute a WRKOBJLCK command on the library ROBOTLIB. There should be no locks.

If you don’t see any locks, consider whether or not you are mirroring ROBOTLIB. Mirroring programs may lock files intermittently. Or, they may share files rather than lock them. Either way, active mirroring is likely to prevent a successful conversion. We recommend that you turn off mirroring while converting. You may need to get permission from upper management to do this.

When the pre-checker completes, review the output for warning messages. Warning messages are not fatal errors, but you should review the information and consider if any additional actions are appropriate.

No Robot/SCHEDULE jobs with a status of R (Running) or S (Submitted to Queue) can be running during the conversion. The pre-checker program looks for these jobs and notifies you if there are any jobs in either status. You can either end these jobs or wait for them to complete.

Make all of the Robot products inactive during the conversion by running the RSLSHUTDWN command.

If you use auditing
If you use Robot/SCHEDULE auditing, the conversion process calls a program to convert your audit log journal receivers. The maximum number of journal receivers allowed is 500. If you have more than 500 journal receivers in the RBTJRN journal, you must save and delete them before the conversion. (The pre-checker program indicates how many journal receivers you have over the limit of 500.)

The Display Audit Log (RBTDSPAUDL) command has changed in Robot/SCHEDULE 10. If you have Robot/SCHEDULE jobs or CL programs that use this command, review the following items:

• Use the new parameter, Print Field Legend, to print the field legend used in the audit log.
• The *OUTLIB value was removed from the Output parameter. In version 10, audit log data is stored in a physical file instead of a journal receiver. You can display the audit log or create a spooled file.

Installing the GUI
In previous versions of Robot/SCHEDULE, the Graphical User Interface (GUI) was optional. In version 10, if you don’t install the GUI you miss out on major features such as the following:

• The Job Creation Wizard provides on-screen instructions for creating a job. If you are familiar with Robot/SCHEDULE, you can use the Job Creation Wizard to create basic jobs quickly. After you create a job, you can select it from the Explorer and use the Job Properties window to specify unique job information or advanced scheduling options. All instructions for using the Job Creation Wizard display online as you set up your jobs.
• The Schedule Activity Monitor (SAM) provides a visual reference to assure that your jobs are running as expected. Whether you’re new to Robot/SCHEDULE or an experienced user, SAM can help you monitor your job schedule.
• Shared Command Sets allow multiple jobs to run the same set of commands. During conversion, any jobs with the same name are changed to have a shared command set. Although shared command sets are visible from the green screen, you can modify them only through the GUI. If you need to modify a command parameter, maintenance is simple. You just change the command once in the command set—you don’t have to update every job that uses the shared set.

Another great reason to install the GUI is that you can start multiple instances of the GUI on the same PC, each connecting to a different System i. Then, switch between systems to monitor jobs or make job schedule changes quickly.

Note: If you quit at any time during the installation of the GUI, a partial install occurs. To resolve this, just restart the installation process. All existing files will be replaced and the product will be installed correctly on the PC.

Additional resources
Download the following Help/FACTS:

• Instructions for converting Robot/SCHEDULE Version 9.0 to Version 10.0
• If you used Robot/SCHEDULE security in version 9.0, refer to Robot/SCHEDULE 10 Secured Object Cross-Reference, when setting up security for the Robot/SCHEDULE 10 graphical interface. This document helps ensure that you have the proper authority in place for objects in the new interface.

Contributed by Jerry Stenzel, Robot/SCHEDULE Product Manager

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 8:22 am and is filed under Robot/SCHEDULE. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.