Working with Jobs and Sessions

A session is an interactive communication between the system and a user. It is characterized by the user entering a command at a terminal, the system responding to it, and then waiting for the user to enter another command. A job is different from a session in that the commands are placed in a job file. Once the job file is activated, commands are processed as they are read from the file with little or no interaction from a user. Jobs are commonly referred to as batch jobs or batch processes.

To display processing information

The computer system is often managing several interactive sessions and several batch jobs at the same time. Summary information can be displayed about one or all sessions and jobs on the system.

About your session

You can display summary information about your session by entering the SHOWME command:

   :SHOWME Return

The following sample is an example of a SHOWME screen:

   :SHOWME Return



   USER:  #S18,JOHN.SMITHERS,MYGROUP     (NOT IN BREAK)

   RELEASE: C.45.00   MPE/iX HP 31900   USER VERSION: C.45.00

   CURRENT : WED, DEC 15, 1993,  3:58 PM

   LOGON :   WED,  DEC 15, 1993,  3:57 PM

   CPU SECONDS: 2        CONNECT MINUTES: 1

   $STDIN LDEV: 107         $STDLIST  LDEV: 107

   ********* WELCOME TO THE HP 3000 SYSTEM **********



   THERE WILL BE A FULL SYSTEM BACKUP ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24,  AT 18:00.

This display provides details about your session:

The number given to your session (#Snn). This number represents how you are currently identified by the computer. This number changes each time that you log on to the system.
Your logon identity.
The version number of the release.
The MPE/iX product release number.
The customer's own version number.
The current date and time.
The date and time that you logged on.
The amount of CPU time used by this session so far (CPU SECONDS).
The amount of time that has elapsed since you logged on (CONNECT MINUTES).
The input device that you are using ($STDIN).
The output device that you are using ($STDLIST).
Any welcome messages informing all users of important computer-related information.

About all jobs and sessions

Details about all jobs and sessions that are currently on the system can be obtained with the SHOWJOB command:

   :SHOWJOB Return

The following sample shows the types of information that the SHOWJOB command displays:

   JOBNUM  STATE IPRI JIN   JLIST    INTRODUCED  JOB NAME



   #S30    EXEC       101   101      FRI  9:57A  DONNA.HOLLAND

   #S21    EXEC       107   107      FRI  3:57P  JOHN.SMITHERS

   #S29    EXEC       109   109      FRI  4:02P  LEDGER.ACCNTNG

   #J13    EXEC       10S   LP       FRI  3:00P  DONNA.HOLLAND



   4 JOBS:

       0 INTRO

       0 WAIT; INCL 0 DEFERRED

       4 EXEC; INCL 3 SESSIONS

       0 SUSP

   JOBFENCE= 7; JLIMIT= 60; SLIMIT= 60

Your display may produce much more information:

Detailed information about sessions and jobs on the system.
- The number assigned to each job and session.
- The current state of each job (#Jnn) or session (#Snn). Five possible states can be specified:
  EXEC
  Currently executing on the system.
  INTRO
  Introduced but not yet executing.
  SUSP
  Suspended during its execution.
  SCHED
  Scheduled to execute at a later time.
  WAIT
  Waiting for system resources. (Job limit has been reached, or job's priority is too low to execute.)
- The standard input device for each job or session (JIN on this display).
- The standard output device for each job or session (JLIST on this display).
- The day and time that the job or session was introduced on the system.
- The job name or logon identity used to identify the job or session.
Summary information about the system's current processing load:
- The total number of jobs and sessions on the system.
- The number of jobs and sessions in each processing state.
- The current value of the system's jobfence, joblimit, and session limit.

About a particular job or session

Determine the session or job number assigned by the system.
Use the SHOWJOB command followed by a specific session number:

   :SHOWJOB #S119 Return

   JOBNUM  STATE IPRI JIN   JLIST    INTRODUCED  JOB NAME



   #S119   EXEC       109   109      FRI  4:02P  LEDGER.ACCNTNG



   JOBFENCE= 7; JLIMIT= 60; SLIMIT= 60

To create a job file

Job files are generally created by using an editor or a word processor. They consist of various commands.

A job file must start with the JOB command. This is comparable to the HELLO command for an interactive session. The job file must end with the EOJ command.

The following job file prints the contents of the file MYFILE1:

   !JOB MYJOB1,USER1/UPASS1.PRACTICE/APASS1,CLASS/GPASS1;&

   !INPRI=9;OUTCLASS=LP;

   !COMMENT MYJOB1 PRINTS MYFILE1

   !CONTINUE

   !EDITOR

   T MYFILE1

   L ALL,OFFLINE

   EXIT

   !TELL USERx.ACCTx MYJOB1 IS DONE

   !EOJ

To create a JOB command line

The purpose of the JOB command is to initiate a batch job. It is always the first executable line of any job. The JOB command in batch processing is comparable to the HELLO command in interactive processing.

Enter the JOB command preceded by an exclamation point.
Enter an optional job name followed by a comma.
Enter the user name, account name, and logon group name. Passwords for the user, account, and group must be included and are designated by the slash (/) symbol. For example, in the sample job file MYFILE1, the user password for USER1 is designated as USER1/UPASS1; the account password for PRACTICE is designated as PRACTICE/APASS1; and the group password for CLASS is designated as CLASS/GPASS1.
Enter the input priority by using the keyword INPRI=.
Enter the optional OUTCLASS= parameter specifying location and the priority for printing the standard output.

Job commands often need to continue on a second line. To do this, enter an ampersand (&) as the last character of the first line, and enter an exclamation point (!) as the first character of the second line. The command line can be continued at any point, but to make it easier to read, split the line between options or at another convenient breaking point, as in the following example:

   !JOB MYJOB1,USER1/UPASS1.PRACTICE/APASS1,OTHERGP/GPASS;&

   !INPRI=9;OUTCLASS=LP;

CAUTION: All users of EDIT/3000:

The ampersand (&) symbol performs a different function in the EDIT/3000 program. If the ampersand symbol is the last character in the text line, it will not be recorded as part of that line. When you use the EDIT/3000 program to create your job file, use the following technique to insure that the ampersand is included in your text.

When placing an ampersand at the end of a text line, type the ampersand symbol followed by a period (.), as shown below:

   This is a line of text with an ampersand at the end&.Return

While still in the EDIT/3000 program, remove this period from the line of text using the MODIFY command.

To include a COMMENT command line

The COMMENT command inserts a comment into the command stream to document the procedure. You can enter as many COMMENT commands as you need. They can be positioned anywhere in the file.

   !COMMENT MYJOB1 PRINTS MYFILE1

To include a CONTINUE command line

The CONTINUE command enables a job to continue processing if an error occurs during processing. This command is placed immediately before a command that could cause an error.

   !CONTINUE

CONTINUE should not be used before comment lines.

To include a TELL command line

The TELL command sends a message to the screen. Often this command is used to report to someone, including yourself, that your job has completed successfully.

   !TELL USERx.ACCTx MYJOB1 IS DONE

To create an EOJ command

The EOJ command terminates a job and displays the CPU time and elapsed time for the job, as well as the date and time.

   !EOJ

To include MPE/iX commands

MPE/iX commands can be added to a job file by preceding the command with an exclamation point. For example, EDIT/3000 can be executed from the job by including the command to start the editor and preceding it with an exclamation point.

   !EDITOR

To include application commands

Application commands can be entered directly after the command that invokes the program. Do not enter an exclamation point before application commands.

   !EDITOR

   T MYFILE1

   L ALL,OFFLINE

   END

To edit a job file

To change a job file, use the editor and alter the text as you would the text of any file.

To run a job

A job file is initiated by entering the STREAM command followed by the job file name.

   :STREAM MYJOB Return

An assigned job number displays on the screen when the job enters the system. If you need to check on this job, copy the job number down for later reference.

To schedule a job

Streaming a job introduces the job to the system and runs it as soon as the current operating environment allows. To schedule a job to run at a particular time or on a specific day, use one of the scheduling options of the STREAM command.

At a specific time

Use the STREAM command with the AT= option. Enter the time of day to start the job in 24-hour notation. To stream a job that will run at 3:00 pm, specify the time as 15:00 hours.

   :STREAM MYJOB;AT=15:00 Return

On a specific date

Use the STREAM command with the DATE= option to start the job on a specific date. Enter the month (mm), day (dd), and year (yy) in the format mm/dd/yy. The job in the following example was run on January 1, 1991.

   :STREAM MYJOB;DATE=1/1/91 Return

On a specific day of the week

Use the STREAM command with the DAY= option to start a job on a particular day of the week. The job in the following example will run next Tuesday:

   :STREAM MYJOB;DAY=TUE Return

A number of days or hours from now

Use the STREAM command with the IN= option to specify a number of days, hours, and minutes from the time that the job is streamed. Use any positive integer for the number of days. For the number of hours, use a number from 0 to 23. For the number of minutes, use a number from 0 to 5 In the following example, the job will run in 10 days and 1 hour from the time that it is streamed.

   :STREAM MYJOB;IN=10,1 Return

In this example, the job will run 45 minutes from the time that it is streamed:

   :STREAM MYJOB;IN=,,45 Return

To cancel a scheduled job

To cancel a job that is currently running, issue the ABORTJOB command using the appropriate job number. The user who initiates the job may also abort it. To abort jobs on the system that are not yours, you must be logged on to the console as MANAGER.SYS.

   :ABORTJOB #J13 Return

To suspend a job

Use the BREAKJOB command to suspend a job temporarily. For example, if system resources are limited and jobs are taking a long time to process, suspending some jobs can speed up the processing of the remaining jobs on the system. A user must be logged on to the console as MANAGER.SYS, in order to use this command, unless otherwise specified.

   :BREAKJOB #J13 Return

To resume a job

To resume a job after it has been suspended, enter the RESUMEJOB command with the appropriate job number:

   :RESUMEJOB #J13 Return

To reduce job activity

The following tasks must be entered on the system console or must be allowed to the user with the ALLOW command.

Several commands can limit the jobs and sessions running on the system.

Increase the jobfence to reduce the number of new jobs allowed to execute. Enter the JOBFENCE command, specifying a higher jobfence number:
:JOBFENCE 8 Return
Decrease the job limit to reduce the number of batch jobs that can run concurrently on the system. New jobs are not able to execute until the number of active jobs has decreased to the new job limit.
:LIMIT 20 Return
Decrease the session limit to reduce the number of interactive sessions that can run concurrently on the system. New sessions are not able to start until the number of active sessions has decreased to the new job limit.
:LIMIT ,20
Note that the LIMIT command is used to set both the job limit and the session limit. Both limits can be entered with a single command. The job limit is first, separated from the session limit by a comma. If only the number of sessions is to be entered, use the comma to specify that the first parameter is not being entered at this time.
To display the current limits, enter LIMITReturn.
Suspend some jobs from executing at this time. Resume processing for these jobs when the system is less busy.
:BREAKJOB #J13 Return :RESUMEJOB #J13 Return

Any problems?

Did you encounter the following error message while trying to abort, suspend, or resume a job?
JOB SECURITY IS HIGH OR JOB NOT YOURS, CANNOT SUSPEND, RESUME, ALTER, OR ABORT. (CIERR 3047)
This error message could mean one of several things:
- The job file does not belong to you.
- You have not been granted the use of the commands ABORTJOB, BREAKJOB, and RESUMEJOB.
- The command should be entered from the console.