Specifying workstation reporting attributes

Every operation in the current plan is assigned a status. The status of an operation describes its current condition. When all processing for an operation is finished, the operation is assigned status C (complete). Before it reaches completion, the operation will have many different statuses as it progresses through the system.

The sequence of statuses that an operation is assigned and the mechanism used for reporting status updates depends on the reporting attribute of the workstation the operation is defined on.

A workstation can have one of four reporting attributes:

A

Automatic.

The status change of operations is normally reported automatically, in response to event records created by the JES and SMF exits in HCL Workload Automation for Z. You can also change the status of these operations using the panels, the OPSTAT command, the EQQUSIN subroutine, the EQQEVPGM batch program, or the program interface. This reporting attribute is normally used for computer and print workstations, or workstations that specify a user-defined destination.

When a general workstation with the WTO option is assigned automatic reporting, HCL Workload Automation for Z attempts to dispatch the operation as soon as all normal submission criteria have been satisfied. When the WTO has been submitted, the status is set to SQ. Use this attribute for synchronous WTO operations, where you want successor operations to wait until actions (that NetView®, for example, takes when it intercepts the WTO) are reported complete. When you want the successor operations to run, report C (Complete) status using, for example, the OPSTAT command. If you need to measure the elapsed time of the operation that the WTO triggers, report S status when you want the timing to start (this changes the status to SS).

If an operation at an automatically reporting workstation is set to started status manually, this will not cause HCL Workload Automation for Z to submit the job, started task or WTO that the operation represents. HCL Workload Automation for Z selects work to be started from the queue of ready operations: those operations in A, R, or * status.

C

Completion only.

The status change of operations is normally reported from the READY LIST panel. You can also change the status of operations with the OPSTAT command, the EQQUSIN subroutine, the EQQEVPGM batch program, or the program interface. This reporting attribute is normally used for general workstations that are not used for JCL preparation.

When a general workstation with the WTO option is assigned completion-only reporting, HCL Workload Automation for Z attempts to dispatch the operation as soon as all normal submission criteria have been satisfied. Use the completion-only attribute when you want to trigger actions asynchronously. When the WTO has been submitted, HCL Workload Automation for Z automatically sets the status to C (completed), so successor operations can run immediately.

N

Non reporting.

Operations on a non-reporting workstation are set to complete as soon as they become eligible to be started. No job, started task, or WTO is submitted; instead the operation is set to completed status. You can use this reporting attribute for operations that do not require any processing. For example, the operations can be used to hold the dependencies for successors, or the operation might represent a milestone in the processing. This is a good way to keep track of the important processing points in large installations.

When a general work station with non-reporting attribute has the WAIT option, HCL Workload Automation for Z does not complete the operation as soon as it becomes eligible. The operation is started and remains in started status for the time defined as operation duration.

This type of workstation is often used for dummy operations created to simplify the sequencing of other operations. (See Dummy workstations.)

S

Start and completion.

The status change of operations is normally reported from the READY LIST panel. You can also change the status of operations with the OPSTAT command, the EQQUSIN subroutine, the EQQEVPGM batch program, or the program interface. This reporting attribute is normally used for general workstations that are used for JCL preparation, or for other general workstations where the duration of the task needs to be tracked. You should consider using this reporting attribute for operations on a data entry workstation, where the operation represents a task that must be performed manually, and the duration of the task is important.

For general workstations with the WTO option, this has the same effect as automatic reporting.