Managing Jobs

Much of the work that you do on the system can be accomplished with jobs. A job is a file that contains commands that you would normally type at the keyboard during an interactive session. When you start the job, the computer interprets and executes these commands automatically. No further user input is necessary.

HP Easytime/iX sorts jobs according to status and runs each in turn. These jobs are listed (queued) on the Job Management screen where you can manage them and monitor their progress.

The menus at the top of the Job Management screen contain all of the options necessary for managing your jobs, including the following tasks:

checking the status of jobs
starting jobs
deleting jobs
scheduling jobs
putting jobs on hold
taking jobs off hold
suspending and resuming jobs
moving a job to the top of the queue
changing the status of jobs
limiting the number of jobs
setting the jobfence
displaying a set of jobs
sorting a list of jobs

The Job Management screen provides the following information about jobs on the system:

name of the job
name and account of the user under which the job is logged on
name of the program that the job is running (if there is one)
current status of the job
date and time when the job started or is scheduled to start

The following figure illustrates the Job Management screen.

Figure 7-6 Job Management

To access Job Management

Move the cursor to Job Management on the Main menu.
Press either F3, Return, or Spacebar.

To check the status of jobs

You can monitor jobs on your system by checking the status field on the Job Management screen.

The status of a job can be any one of the following:

`This status`	`Means this`
`ACTIVE`	The job is running now.
`READY`	The job is ready and waiting to run. The maximum number of jobs that can run at one time has been reached. This job will run when one of the active jobs is finished.
`SCHED`	The job is scheduled to run at a later date and time. The start date and time is displayed on the Job Management screen.
`ON HOLD`	The job has been put on hold. A job that is on hold cannot run until you take it off hold.
`SUSPEND`	Someone has interrupted (suspended) this job while it was running. The task `Resume` can be used to start it again (from the place where it was stopped).

To start a job

When you start a job, you introduce it to the system.

Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press S for Start.
A dialog box prompts you for a job file name.
Type the name of the job file in the Job File Name field.
If the job file is in a group or account other than your logon group and account, type them.
If the file has a lockword, type it.
Press F5 {{OK}} to start the job.
If the job accesses accounts, groups, or users that require passwords, HP Easytime/iX prompts you to type them.

To delete (abort) a job

If a job cannot continue because of an error, you may need to delete the job and restart. You can delete any active job, or job that is waiting in the job queue.

Select one or more jobs from the Job Management screen.
Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press D for Delete.
Press F5 {{Yes}} to confirm deletion of jobs.

To schedule a job

You can schedule a job to run at a later date or time, for example, after you have gone home for the evening. If you have a job that updates a database, or other files, you can schedule it to run at night when the files are not being used.

Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press S for Start.
A dialog box prompts you for a job file name, start date, and time.
Type the name of the job file in the Job File Name field.
If the job file is in a group or account other than your logon group and account, type them.
If the file has a lockword, type it.
Type the start date and time for the job.
Press F5 {{OK}} to schedule the job.

The job appears in the job queue with a status of SCHED and starts at the scheduled date and time.

To put a job on hold

If a job in the job queue is not yet running, you can put it on hold to delay its running.

Select one or more jobs with a status of Ready.
Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press H for Put on Hold.

The job appears in the job queue with a status of ON HOLD and does not start until you take it off hold.

To take a job off hold

If one or more jobs are on hold, you must take them off hold before they can run.

Select one or more jobs with the status On Hold.
Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press O for Take off Hold.

The job appears in the job queue with a status of ACTIVE or READY.

To suspend a job

The task suspends (interrupts) a job in progress. If system resources are limited, you can speed up the processing of some jobs by suspending other, less critical jobs.

Select one or more jobs with the status Active.
Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press P for Suspend.
The job stops, and its status changes to SUSPEND. The job does not continue until you resume processing.

To resume a suspended job

Select one or more jobs with the status Suspend.
Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press R for Resume.

The job continues to run from the point where it was suspended.

To move a job to the top of the queue

If you are the system administrator, you can move a job to the top of the queue by changing the job status. It becomes the next job to run.

Select one or more jobs from the Job Management screen.
Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press N for Run Next.

To limit the number of jobs

If you are the system administrator, you can limit the number of jobs running at one time on the system. If the job limit is set at 5, only the first five jobs can begin processing. Subsequent jobs have a status of READY and wait in the job queue until one of the active jobs ends.

Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press L for Limit No. of Jobs.
A dialog box prompts you to type the job limit.
Type the number of jobs allowed to run concurrently.
Press F5 {{OK}} to set the job limit.

To set the jobfence

If you are the system administrator, you can restrict which jobs are allowed to execute.

The jobfence is the minimum priority level that a job must exceed in order to run. The jobfence can be any value from 0 to 14. If the jobfence is set at 8, for example, then only those jobs with a priority of 9 or higher can run.

Press F2 A to open the Actions menu.
Press F for Set Jobfence.
A dialog box prompts you to type the jobfence number.
Type the jobfence.
Press F5 {{OK}} to set the jobfence.

To display a set of jobs

When you log on to HP Easytime/iX and go to Job Management, you see all the jobs currently logged on to the system. You can restrict your view to a particular set of jobs, for example, those in a specific account.

Press F2 V to open the View menu.
Press V for Set View.
A dialog box prompts you to type a set of jobs. The following example displays all jobs for user PAT, in account MGR.
Type the set of jobs that you would like to view. You can use wildcard characters to define a set of jobs.
Press F5 {{OK}} to display the new view.
Only those jobs that you specified are now displayed on your screen. This new view will last until you exit HP Easytime/iX or until you change the view again.

To reset the view

If you have changed your view of jobs, you can quickly reset it to display all of the jobs on the system.

Press F2 V to open the View menu.
Press R for Reset View.

To sort a list of jobs

When you start HP Easytime/iX and go to Job Management, jobs are sorted on your screen by status (the order in which they will run). You can change this to sort jobs, for example, by user.

Press F2 V to open the View menu.
Choose one of the following settings:
- sort by Job Name
- sort by User
- sort by Account
- sort by Status

The jobs on your screen are sorted according to the setting that you selected. An asterisk (*) appears in front of the selected setting. This setting is valid until you exit HP Easytime/iX or change the sort again.