Date:         Thu, 17 Jul 2003 14:36:33 -0400
Reply-To:     Michael Raithel <RAITHEM@WESTAT.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From:         Michael Raithel <RAITHEM@WESTAT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Scheduling a job on Mainframe
Content-Type: text/plain

Dear SAS-L-ers,

Jeff Morrison posted the following:

>  Thanks to all who responded to my earlier qn.
>
>   I have this SAS program on mainframe with pulls data
> from flat files, summarizes it, creates a SAS dataset
> and appends to it on a daily basis, I need to set it
> up to run every day of the week except Monday on
> mainframe.
>

Jeff, I see that two other Michaels have already started you down the right
path, and I'll bet that you won't mind if a third Michael chimes in.

As Michael E. and Michael B. related, most mainframe shops employ a job
scheduling package.  The one that I have seen used in the most shops is the
ubiquitous CA-7 product.  CA-7 (and other job scheduling packages) provides
an automated way to have production jobs scheduled for various days, dates,
and times. _MOST_IMPORTANTLY_ CA-7 provides a facility for job dependency.

There is usually a "Production Control" group whose sole purpose in life is
to receive scheduling instructions from applications staff, schedule jobs,
and contact them when there are problems with the production jobs.  That
group will possess the forms and instructions that you will need to obtain
to get your job scheduled to run.

So, here is what I would do if I were in your sandals:

1. Contact the "Production Control" group and find out what tasks are
necessary to put a batch job into production.

2. Determine which other batch job creates the flat files that your SAS job
eats

3. Make sure that you batch job is dependent upon the batch job that creates
the flat files that your SAS program needs.

4. Do the necessary things to put the batch job in production.

5. Fret about your job while not at work, and yearn for the days when you
were not on-call for production batch jobs.

Jeff, three Michaels can't be wrong.  Follow our advice and you will be
sitting on production support pins and needles in no time!

Best of luck to you as you transition from an ad-hoc life to a production
existence!


I hope that this suggestion proves helpful now, and in the future!

Of course, all of these opinions and insights are my own, and do not reflect
those of my organization or my associates. All SAS code and/or methodologies
specified in this posting are for illustrative purposes only and no warranty
is stated or implied as to their accuracy or applicability. People deciding
to use information in this posting do so at their own risk.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Michael A. Raithel
"The man who wrote the book on performance"
E-mail: MichaelRaithel@westat.com
Author: Tuning SAS Applications in the MVS Environment
http://www.sas.com/apps/pubscat/bookdetails.jsp?catid=1&pc=55231
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The entire sum of existence is the magic of being needed
by just one other person. - Vi Putnam
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++