Scheduling complex, multi-platform jobs
Help/Systems offers a comprehensive job scheduling solution for System i-centered IT operations. If you need to schedule jobs, such as mission-critical applications running on the System i, and related jobs on connected platforms (Windows, UNIX, and Linux), take a look at what the Robot team can do for you!
At the core is Robot/SCHEDULE, which can be supplemented with Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise for the multi-platform scheduling environment and Robot/REPLAY to automate System i jobs that include interactive components. Together they create a powerful team to meet your scheduling needs. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Robot/SCHEDULE spices things up with OPAL
You know how McDonald’s touts the “special sauce” on its Big Mac? Robot/SCHEDULE OPAL is a little like that. OPAL stands for OPerator Assistance Language and it lets you automate jobs in ways that go above and beyond any other scheduler.
For instance, OPAL can check a data area and decide if a job should run. In this case, the job is a critical one that should run only once per day. Here are the steps.
- Create a data area on the System i to store the current date.
- Create a data area definition in Robot/SCHEDULE that refers to the data area created in Step 1 (USRFLD1).
- Create OPAL code to attach to the job that ensures the job runs only once in a day. The OPAL code compares the value in USRFLD1 to the Reserved Command Variable @@DATE, which stores the current date. If the values are not equal, it means the job has not yet run on the current date and the job runs. If the values are equal, the job has already run, so the job is skipped. This is recorded in Robot/SCHEDULE with a status of “K.”
Note: Make sure your operators know that if they need to run the job manually, they must use the “Do Special” (DS) override code (rather than DO) and select the option to do the job now with OPAL. This forces the OPAL code to run and ensures that the job will not run if it has already run that day, even when manually prompted.
Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise provides built-in functions
Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise includes built-in functions that allow you to automate file transfers between platforms using standard FTP or secure FTP (FTPS). The arrival of a file can kick off a scheduled job.
Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise is designed to make this function easy to use. You just fill in fields on the Built-in Function Builder Window and Robot/SCHEDULE Enterprise creates the correct PUT and GET statements behind the scenes.
Note: If you previously used the Robot/CLIENT file transfer command (RCLTFRF) to transfer files, this is much easier and offers greater security.
The Built-in Function Builder Window has some options worth noting. You can select the Use FTP Server Identity Map option to use a predefined Server System Name, User Name, and Password. If you frequently set up file transfers, this can be a time saver and help you avoid typos.
The Select FTP Direction field allows you to control the direction of file movement.
The Agent File Name field allows you to enter the path and the file name on the agent system (your Windows, UNIX, or Linux system).
The Server File Name field allows you enter the path and file name on the enterprise system (your System i, iSeries, or AS/400).
The Replace the existing Target file option allows you to replace an existing file. If you do not select this option and there is a duplicate file, an error message results.
The File Transfer Protocol Mode should be binary when you are transferring applications or other information you don’t want encoded. Select text if you are transferring text.
Robot/REPLAY learns interactive jobs
A lot of programs on the System i use a blend of interactive and batch processes.
For example, you might have a billing program that asks you to enter the billing period (from and to dates). The program uses this information to run a query behind the scenes and submits the query to batch to create a report.
Many people don’t know that Robot/REPLAY lets you automate processes like this. And, it’s easy. Robot/REPLAY “learns” how you submit the job by recording each panel and variable as you enter them.
The recording is called a Replay object. Once you have the initial recording, you can edit the object, replacing actual dates with Reserved Command Variables you’ve defined for each date you need (such as first of the month, last day of the month, today’s date, and so on).
Then, simply use Robot/SCHEDULE to run the Replay object and you’ve automated what used to be an interactive, manual, error-prone process!
Plus, Robot/REPLAY is smart enough that it can wait until all the jobs it has submitted complete before it creates a job completion status in Robot/SCHEDULE.
Best of all, Robot/REPLAY features a visual log that lets you review the sequence of events that occurred during the execution of a Replay object—making it easy to troubleshoot problems to the exact panel and field!
Tackle even the most complex schedule
With all three of these job scheduling products on your team, you can automate even the most complex schedule!
Contributed by Jeanne Thiesfeld, Technical Consultant