Group jobs is a facility that is part of the iSeries (AS/400) operating system. It provides the ability for a user to start up to 7 additional interactive jobs.
Support for group jobs is provided by IBM at a low level. In practice it is not usable without a non-IBM Group Job Manager program written to control the starting and ending of group jobs, and to provide a mechanism for switching between them. ActionWare includes a Group Job Manager program as part of the standard package. The first screen you normally see when you enter the ActionWare database is the Group Job Menu. The Group Job Menu allows you to open additional jobs and switch between them with a few keystrokes.
Once you are working in ActionWare, you access the Group Job menu by pressing the Attention key usually found in the top left corner of the keyboard (on PC keyboards labeled Esc). The Group Job Menu provides access for ActionWare and Operation Assistant as well as seven additional jobs that can be started using one key numeric values. A right-facing chevron (>) indicates that a job has been interrupted.
System Option #37 must be set to Y (Yes) to enable the Group Job Manager function. If you have your own corporate Group Job Manager, you may add ActionWare to your menu and turn off the ActionWare menu using System Options option 37 set to N (No).
Customizing Group Jobs
We have provided source for a CL program and a Display File that you can use to customize your Group Jobs Menu. The CL program name is GJ1, and the Display File is GJ0FM. They can both be found in the QMODSRC stored in the AW4 library. To access QMODSRC, begin in the ActionWare Main Menu.
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Key: |
Action: |
What Happens |
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AW4LM |
Press Enter |
The ActionWare Main Menu screen is displayed |
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6, Tools Menu |
Press Enter |
The ActionWare Tools Menu screen is displayed |
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1, Work with QMODSRC Source Code |
Press Enter |
The Work with Members Using PDM screen is displayed |
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Change the Library name to AW4 |
Press Enter |
Library AW4 is where ActionWare stores all sample programs |
All programs and display files are in alphabetical order. You can reposition the screen or scroll to GJ1 or GJ0FM. The GJ1 program is used to link your job to the option you want to use in the Group Jobs Menu. The Display File is used to change the description in the menu from Additional Job 1 to the description you want to use. Since AW4L programs are overwritten when software upgrades are performed, you should customize your Group Jobs Menu in the auxiliary library. Follow these steps:
Step 1: Create an auxiliary library called AW4LAUX and a source file called QMODSRC in the AW4LAUX library.
Step 2: Copy the members in QMODSRC in library AW4 to QMODSRC in library AW4LAUX.
Step 3: Edit the file for your needs and compile the source in library AW4LAUX. Copy the GJ1 program as many times as you need to.
Step 4: Rename the program names so they correspond to options on the Group Jobs Menu, e.g., GJ2 is the file for the Additional Job 2. You can use up to seven slots on the Group Jobs Menu for additional jobs.
Step 5: Update the data area in library AW4L called LIBAUX. This can contain multiple entries. All entries must be entered in ALL CAPS, and each entry must be 10 characters away from the next entry. To update the data area, on a command line:
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Key: |
Action: |
What Happens: |
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EDA LIBSRC |
Press Enter |
Change a Data Area is displayed |
In the next available position:
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Key: |
Action: |
What Happens: |
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AW4LAUX |
Press Enter |
A new data area is created in library AW4L called AW4LAUX |