Difference between offset-based and rule-based cycles

If you have a work-days-only cyclic period MYWEEK, for example, with a length of 5 days, and specify an offset greater than 1, HCL Workload Automation for Z can select different days depending on the type of run cycle. How HCL Workload Automation for Z counts offsets with work-days-only cyclic periods shows how offset-based (top of diagram) and rule-based (bottom of diagram) run cycles treat an offset of 3. Day 1 in the period is a Thursday, and Saturdays and Sundays are free days.

When you specify offset 3 in an offset-based run cycle, the long-term planning program selects the third calendar day from the period origin and takes action depending on the free-day rule. See Selecting a free-day rule for information about free-day rules.

This behavior differs from using the same period in the rule-based run cycle Only 3rd day in MYWEEK, which selects Monday. When you specify a rule-based run cycle using a work-days-only cyclic period, HCL Workload Automation for Z jumps over the free days, counting only the work days in the period.