Converting IBM AJS Jobs to Robot Schedule

 

Introduction

The following describes how you can convert your IBM Advanced Job Scheduler (AJS) jobs to Robot Schedule jobs (R12M01 and higher). It provides complete instructions and items you should be aware of as you perform the conversion.  

Performing the Conversion

1. Before you begin the conversion, back up the Robot Schedule product library (ROBOTLIB by default).

2. Run the following command to add the product library to your library list:

   ADDLIBLE ROBOTLIB

   Note: Substitute your product library name for ROBOTLIB in the above command if your product library has a different name.

3. For R12M04 and higher, if you have multiple instances of Robot Schedule on your IBM i, run the following command to set the ASP group to the instance into which you want to convert the jobs:

   SETASPGRP asp_group_name

4. Enter the following command:

   RBTAJSCNV

5. Press F4 to display the command prompt panel

General Information

• The RBTAJSCNV command allows you to convert all jobs (*ALL), a single job by Job Name, or jobs by Application Name.
•  If you choose to convert a single job or an application and the job’s prerequisites have not been converted, no dependencies will be created. You must convert all jobs in a reactive job stream to create the dependencies during the conversion process.
• The library QUSRIJS holds the IBM Job Scheduler database objects and logs. You can override the library name on the command.
• You must have *ALLOBJ, *JOBCTL and *SECADM special authorities to run the conversion.
• Robot Schedule Auditing must be on before converting. If it isn’t, the conversion will end in error.
• Converted jobs are added to Robot Schedule. The conversion does not update any existing jobs. If you run the conversion multiple times, the jobs will be added multiple times. You can use Robot Schedule to remove or modify any of the converted jobs.
• All jobs are converted to Command Type jobs and have a Schedule Override Code of HOLD.
• The conversion creates a log file that contains information such as who ran the conversion, when it was done, and the options that were entered (job name, application name, library). If multiple conversions are done, the log file will contain multiple records.
• No job history information will be converted.

• The conversion also creates exception reports and an error file. The error file (RBTAJSERR in RBTAJS) is cleared each time the conversion is run.

Conversion Details

The following information details how AJS objects convert to Robot Schedule objects. 

Calendars

There are three calendars in AJS: Calendar, Holiday calendar, and Fiscal calendar.

• Calendar - If the Schedule code is *CALENDAR, the dates in the calendar are run dates. These are converted to run date objects. The date object name will be the Calendar name. If the Schedule code is NOT *CALENDAR, the dates are in addition to the days the job will run based on schedule code. These are not converted. 
• Holiday - Converted to omit date objects. The run dates are not converted. 
• Fiscal - The current and future fiscal calendar entries are converted to Calendars and will be referenced as the job calendar on the Control Options panel of the Robot Schedule jobs. Past Fiscal calendar entries are not converted.

Schedule Codes

• *DAILY -Converted to a regular Robot Schedule job. AJS allows ten run times. If the AJS job contains more than eight run times, two Robot Schedule jobs will be created. The jobs will have the same job name and attributes.
• *CALENDAR - Converted to a DATE job. The calendar will be converted to a date object. 
• *DATE - Converted to a DATE job. A date object will be created. It will have the same name as the job name.  
• *DAY - Converted to a DAYNO job. AJS allows for 13 day numbers. If a job has more than four days selected, additional Robot Schedule jobs will be created. If there is more than one run time for the job, it will be converted and added to the exception report. DAYNO jobs only run once per day.
  If the job has working days = *NO, it will be converted to run on non-working day=Y (Yes)
  If the job has working days = *YES, it will be converted to run on non-working day=N (NO)
• *ONCE - Converted to a DATE job. A date object will be created. It will have the name Dnnnnnn, where nnnnnn is the date. If the date has passed, the date object will contain next year's date. If the date is in the future, the date object will contain the current year's date. 
• *MONTHEND - Converted to a DATE job. A date object will be created. It will have the name MONTHEND. It will contain the last dates of the calendar months (for example, 01/31/19, 02/28/19, and so on). 
• *MINUTES - Converted to an EVERY job 
• *NUMDAY - Converted to an INDAY job.  The start date will be the current date. 
  If Working days = *NO, the type of day will be Calendar.
  If Working days = *YES, the type of day will be Work.
• *FIRST, *SECOND, *THIRD, *FOURTH, *FIRTH, *LAST - Converted to a regular schedule job using Run Days of 1-5 & L.
• *FIRSTWRK, *LASTWRK - Converted to a DATE job.
  If *FIRSTWRK is used, a date object will be created with the name FIRSTWRK. It will contain the first dates of the calendar months (for example, 02/01/19, 03/01/19, and so on). The run on non-working day will be set to F, run after.
  If LASTWRK is used, a date object will be created with the name LASTWRK. It will contain the last dates of the calendar months (for example, 01/31/19, 02/28/19, and so on). The run on non-working day will be set to B, run before.
• *ALTERNATE - Converted to a regular schedule job. If a job has an Alternate job, that job will be flagged as Reactive. It will have a React to status of T, Abnormal termination. If the Alternate job does not exist in Robot Schedule, the reactivity dependency will not be created.
• *NONE - Converted to a regular schedule job. It does not have a schedule and must be started either with a job dependency or manually.  
• *TEMP - Jobs are not converted.

Group jobs

• In AJS, group members are processed in a serialized manner. They will be converted with 'Stop processing group if one job fails' selected.  The options 'Use group control options for all jobs in group' and 'Use group control start date as the start date of all group member jobs' will not be selected.
• The job that contains the Group Sequence value of 1 will be converted to the Group Control record. It also will be converted to be the first member of the group. If there is reactivity associate with this job, it will be converted onto the first member of the group, not the group control record.
• If the Group Control job is not converted, the group members will be converted as standalone jobs, not as members of a group.
• If the Group Name already exists, a new group name will be created. It will have a suffix of ____n. This is the same as if a group was copied in Robot Schedule.

Applications

Applications will be converted. However, contact information will not be converted. 

Library Lists

Library Lists will be converted.

Local Data Areas

Local Data areas will be converted. However, the parameters are not converted. If there are parameters in the LDA, a message will be noted on the exception report. 

Job Defaults

Job defaults will be converted to an Environment Schedule Object. 

Commands

• All commands will be private commands. No command sets will be created.
• The job's commands or Job Default Pre- and Post- commands will be converted if they are used by the job. 
• User-defined and system parameters will not be converted. Jobs with these parameters will be noted on the exception report and you will need to define Reserved Command Variables manually. 

Job Dependencies

Job Dependencies will be converted to REACT jobs.  
If Completion Required = *YES, the React to Status will be C.
If Completion Required = *NO, the React to Status will be E.

Active Dependencies and Resource Dependencies

These processes will not be converted. They will be handled by OPAL code.

Report Distribution

Report Distribution will be converted. A spooled file per Report Distribution will be converted only once. 

Miscellaneous

• If a job has a run time of 24:00, it will be converted to 23:55.
• The Notes section of a Robot Schedule job is 60 characters, instead of 50 in AJS. 
• The last ten characters of the converted job will contain the following: CDate Conversion number, for example, C19100101 indicates the conversion on 10/01/19, number 1. The number is associated with each date. For example, C19103112 indicates the conversion was run 12 times on 10/31/19.
• The following items from the Job or Job Defaults will not be converted:
  • Start time and date and End time and date
  • Remote location name
  • Pager recipient normal/abnormal
  • Routing Data
  • Hold on the Job queue
  • Message logging
  • Recover Action
  • Print Device

After Converting

You should review each converted job to make sure that the schedule is set up correctly. Keep the following in mind:

• Date Objects - Check to see if the dates in the date object can be changed to use DAYNO schedule code or OPAL. 
• First member of a group - Check to see if the first member needs to run outside the group. If it does not you can remove the schedule setup for the first member. 
• Calendars -  Check the dates in all calendars.